Live Review: Infected Rain w/Butcher Babies and Black Spikes at the 1865 in Southampton!

Tonight the South Coast is alive with the sound of screaming. That’s because American Metalcore institution Butcher Babies and Moldova’s finest export Infected Rain have brought their co-headlining tour to the 1865 in Southampton for the penultimate show of the United Kingdom leg of their European run with Black Spikes. All three bands have new material in the offering with singles “Aurea“, “Stranger” and “Black Dove” all dropping in the past few days, so it’s time to have some fun on a school night…

Underneath the flashing multi coloured lights that offer post hypnotic suggestion, Latvian Progressive Metalcore merchants Black Spikes [9/10] demonstrate exactly why they’ve been signed by Napalm Records. Their sophomore album “Ydos” is waiting in the wings for an end of summer release and on tonight’s evidence it will be a long awaited, highly anticipated record by the time it finally appears. In the meantime the band have their only just one hear old EP “Nil” to offer songs from with a stylish rendition of “Impertore” making a serious impression. Periodically the five piece have a dancer on stage adding a little bit of art to their otherwise crushing guitar sounds, the 1865 barely able to contain their synchronised headbanging but it’s their energy and diversity which is eye opening. Unafraid to cross borders and boundaries they drift from big chugging riffs to stuccato riff breaks, a Trap Metal infused tune followed by one with more ethnic vibes meaning that tonight they’re very much going to be followed by their peers. All of that is only possible because vocalist Agnieška “Agni” Vrubliauskienė has incredible range, singing, screaming and rapping in both English and Latvian before the set closes on a high with recent single “Aurea“.

A high energy ball of fury Heidi Shepherd stomps around the stage like a woman possessed throughout Butcher Babies [10/10] set, singing, screaming, headbanging and high kicking her way through twelve songs without so much as pausing for breath. It’s all part of the show as the fiercely charismatic front woman is hell bent on ensuring that the crowd match her energy and they do with mosh pit action throughout an hour long set of blistering tunes. The four piece start with a brutal rendition of “Backstreets of Tennessee” before sweeping through “Red Thunder” and scream-a-long anthem “Monsters Ball” in an unholy trinity that leaves the crowd a sweaty mess. “Sincerity” is as powerful and dramatic as “Beaver Cage” is unhinged, new songs “Lost In Your Touch” and “Black Dove” proving there is plenty more fuel in the tank and life left in the four piece yet. Shepherd leaps from the stage during the brutal “Spittin’ Teeth” getting the crowd to circle pit around her as she roars through the lyric sheet before a drum solo from the bands resident Canadian allows the others a few minutes to towel down and take on some much needed water. Taking a moment, Shepherd explains the backstory behind “Last December” reminding everyone that the world is a better place with them in it before “Magnolia Blvd.” brings the blood stained crushed velvet curtain down in style. Still very much a live force to be reckoned with, Butcher Babies still have all the verve, swagger, blood and thunder they did when we first witnessed them twenty odd years ago… and the new material absolutely rips!

This tour is called “Mutation Phase” and with a couple of new songs in the set and a cinematic spoken word introduction that weaves a web reminiscent of Resident Evil it seems that shedding the skin of the old version of ourselves to replace it with something stronger and more powerful is the premise of the next Infected Rain [9/10] album. When the four piece take to the stage it’s all flying dreadlocks and DJent fuelled Nu-Metal riffs from “The Answer Is You” through “Orphan Soul” to “The Realm Of Chaos” and encore set closer “Judgemental Trap“. Lena Scissorhands cuts a siren like figure delivering brooding delicate clean vocals between bursts of furious rage fuelled screams. At points she’s almost baiting the crowd for more energy between songs while at others she’s truly humbled to be here. Either side of the band are a pair of screens mounted in mirror like frames with theatrical masks and during “Stranger” they show a looped clip from the music video as the band decimate the weak and thin the herd. Moving between the dark and brooding atmospheres with delicate clean vocals to the vicious bark of the harsh uncleans over Nu-Metal and DJent infused guitars has always served Infected Rain well and tonight is no different.