The Warning, courtesy.

The successes that might have overwhelmed an up and coming band instead strengthened The Warning. The Monterrey, Mexico band toured relentlessly in support of its third studio album, Error, its first on a major label. The sister trio played festivals around the world, opened stadium shows for Muse and Guns N’ Roses and performed at the MTV Video Music Awards, on top of doing their own tours. A break seemed to be in order, but that’s not what happened.

“We were in between tours; we were writing with other people; everything was a lot more chaotic,” singer-guitarist Daniela Villarreal said in a call from home in Monterrey.

That, and the sisters grew more in their abilities. The Warning took that momentum right back into the studio to begin work on Keep Me Fed. The rock record pushes the band’s sound into heavier directions.

“Without really realizing it, I think we had a lot to say,” Daniela said. “The moment we started writing for this album, it really flowed.”

The record, much of which was released in advance as singles, allows The Warning’s personality to shine through, from its lyricism to the melodies and arrangements. The band has more fun with upbeat riff-laden instrumentals and tongue-in-cheek lyrics.

“I feel like that’s the sign of a good producer,” drummer Paulina Villarreal said, crediting Anton DeLost. “That’s the sign of somebody who’s pushing you to do new things and to try new things that you wanted to try, but never had the time or the confidence to start doing.”

She said the band could have fallen into staying to what it knew, but avoided that trap. Take the aggressive “Sharks,” one of the band’s heaviest songs that evokes comparisons to Korn in its dynamics.

“I had a MIDI keyboard and a little drum loop that I’d made, and I had this riff that sounded like ‘sharks,’ and then we just started writing this whole song!” Paulina said. “I really like listening to this kind of music. It really pumps me up, especially before shows; it makes me feel aggressive and powerful.”

The band also worked with longtime Bring Me the Horizon engineer Dan Lancaster on several songs: “Six Feet Deep,” “Hell You Call a Dream” and “Automatic Sun.” They wondered why he was spending so much time on minutiae, only to understand he difference he made after he was done.

“He is all about ear worms,” Daniela said.

The work paid off in the charts; The Warning scored its first top-10 hit on rock radio with “S!ck.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever checked my e-mail that much just waiting for the updates,” Paulina said. “It’s just so rewarding.”

The band points to “Automatic Sun” as one of its proudest moments. A rumbling track with a soaring chorus, it employs a new sound by tuning down the guitars further than before.

“We went really low on that one; it’s tuned to a low A, which is insane,” Daniela said. “Exploring those new sounds was really something we wanted to open ourselves up to.”

The risk-taking has grown beyond making albums. It’s expanded to stage and screen. For the “Automatic Sun” video,  The Warning used pyrotechnics for the first time.

The video for “¿Qué Mas Quieres?” sees Paulina Villarreal directing alongside friend Ivan Chavez. She said she organizes Pinterest boards for every single song the band writes, tying visual moods to the feel of the track. The band was tight-lipped on whether the heist-themed video is the first in a series, though the cliffhanger ending suggests there’s more to come in the story.

“If my sisters let me, I’ll probably be very involved in the next videos that we do, because I had so much fun and I’m a bossy person,” Paulina said. “It was a great environment for me to be bossy.”

The band’s touring is no less grueling than before with American and European festival dates, including Sacramento’s Aftershock, as well as headlining dates and a Canadian run with Evanescence and Halestorm.

“We’re playing Wacken [open air metal festival in Germany] this year, which is amazing,” Daniela said. “I think that’s the environment where we break out ‘Sharks.’”

Life on the road, which included a tour of Japan, has spurned some viral moments. One video of the entire band and crew performing the choreography of JoJo Siwa’s “Karma” got lots of attention.

“I told them two days before that we were going to do this,” Paulina said. “I sent them tutorials and videos of myself doing the dance slowly.”

Much less pleasant was when some of the band’s party got separated from the rest in Jamaica due to stormy weather during rock cruise Shiprocked.

While the band said the adventurous journey ultimately turned out to be fun, there were occasional, anxiety-fueled second thoughts.

“Was I scared for my life at times?” Paulina asked. “Yes.”

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.