LIVE REVIEW: Infected Rain, Butcher Babies, Black Spikes, SLAY, Glasgow, 25/03/2026
Photo Credit: Victoria Wonka
There was a right international feel about tonight’s show as bands from Moldova (Infected Rain), USA (Butcher Babies) and Lithuania (Black Spikes) brought their own versions of thrash and nu-metal to SLAY in Glasgow. It was the first night of the UK/EU tour being headlined by Infected Rain … and all three bands are also led by a female vocalist that added more power to the performances.
We got down for just after 7pm and Lithuanian’s Black Spikes were already on the stage entertaining the decent sized crowd that made the effort to get down early for the performance. We just wished now that we had got down a bit earlier ourselves, that’s how good Black Spikes were! Sure, not many folk in the basement venue would have understood a word of what was being sung but the stage presence of this band was phenomenal and also well-choreographed. Whether that be the hooded masked mystery bass player or the impressive dancer that took to the stage with white ribbons, the five piece definitely left an impression on this crowd as we could see when we looked around. Black Spikes released new track AUREA this very day for the start of the tour and we were privileged to be the first ones to hear it played live, this was great start to the night. 8/10
We had to check back to when we had saw Los Angeles band Butcher Babies and discovered that it was in November 2023 at The Garage in Glasgow when they supported Fear Factory. The crowd reaction to the band taking to the stage told us that more than a few were here just to see them play as vocalist Heidi Shepherd explodes on to the stage with the most ferocious energy levels that we have witnessed for some time, if you take then stage energy of Courtney LaPlante of Spiritbox and times it by ten then you get an idea of how great Heidi is on stage. Her mop of blonde hair is thrown around with more head spins than anyone else could take and some of the high kicks are also impressive. Getting back to the music they play twelve tracks making it more like a co-headline show, the crowd are singing along to the better known songs such as Monster’s Ball, It’s Killin’ Time, Baby! and Lost In Your Touch. Guitarist Henry Flury is a joy to watch tonight as the first mosh pits break out around us, it isn’t long until Heidi joins us in the middle of the crowd sparking wild scenes. Last December begins with only Heidi on stage as she tells us about a dark time in her life in 2019 when depression took over, the crowd listen intently before the song explodes into life, the set ends with Magnolia Blvd. We got to hear three brand new songs tonight in Sincerity, Lost In Your Touch and Black Dove and all three were special. Butcher Babies bring so much energy to their shows, we hope that some of the more prominent bands take them out on tour as they deserve all the accolades given to them. 9/10
The big question now has to be, can main headliners Infected Rain live up to what we have witnessed so far? We needn’t have worried about that, the minute Lena Scissorhands aka. Elena Cataraga (vocals & guitar), Vadim Ojog (guitar), Alice Lane (bass) and Eugen Voluta (drums) take to the stage everyone in the crowd is transfixed with what is in front of them. Lena looks impressive with her head of orange hair and tattoos and the vocals are intense to say the least. Two video screens display a short audio and visual opener reminding everyone to stay in the moment before the live debut of Mutation Phase opens the set, not surprisingly we get to hear five tracks from their last album TIME that was released back in 2024 and also a brand new track Stranger that was only released the week before the tour began. Orphan Soul is the band’s most streamed song to date and it goes down a treat with the Glasgow crowd, some of the moshing is a little scary at times with people falling around a lot but still adds to the atmosphere.
Heidi Shepherd joins Lena for a duet with The Realm Of Chaos being the track, the crowd are delighted with what they are seeing on stage, this is followed by another new song Ut Supra, making its live debut tonight. The set ends on a powerful note with NEVER TO RETURN, BECAUSE I LET YOU and Judgemental Trap. Looking ahead to the touring schedule for Infected Rain & Butcher Babies after the UK tour they head over to the EU. They’ll eventually move over to the USA where the Mutation Phase In Europe Tour ends in Las Vegas on 6th June with no less than twenty dates across the pond, that’s impressive and should be enough to push Infected Rain higher up the metal ranks. 10/10
Written by: Alan Brown
