One week in, the Mutation Phase In Europe tour is in full swing as Moldovan metal heavyweights Infected Rain, alongside LA-based, literal 'lightning in a bottle' Butcher Babies, make a stop in Birmingham, with Lithuanian new kids on the block, Black Spikes, along for the ride.
First up tonight are Black Spikes, a modern progressive metal band from Lithuania who have been making waves in the underground scene. Stylistically gothic, with a layer of theatrics over the top, their sound is a melting pot of intricate guitar work, polished riffs, and blast beats, blending in electronica with a combination of melodic and harsh vocals, often in her native Lithuanian, frontwoman Volček commands the stage. With the band often joined onstage by a dancer, very much giving performative modern art, the entire performance is not only proficiently tight; it's hauntingly beautiful.
BLACK SPIKES
The nine-song set comes to a close with the most recent single, "Aurea," which goes down a storm with the Birmingham crowd. If Black Spikes are not yet on your radar, then they very much need to be. Signed to Napalm Records, I'm positive that they are teetering on the edge of something quite big.
Following a complete rendition of Survivors' "Eye of the Tiger" through the PA, an explosion of energy as Butcher Babies, led by the supercharged Heidi Shepherd, burst out onto the stage and wasted no time sweeping us all up in their high-octane performance.
"Backstreets of Tennessee" and "Red Thunder" (...'Til the World's Blind, 2023) get the ball rolling before "Monsters Ball" (Take It Like A Man, 2015) sees Heidi off the stage and down at the barrier, orchestrating the chaos up close and personal with the Birmingham crowd.
BUTCHER BABIES
The set is a flurry of high kicks and hair flicks, with Heidi effortlessly flicking between cleans and her signature harsh vocals. Shout out to the lighting tech; we don't often talk about things like the lighting, but the way this was all staged tonight really felt like it elevated the band's performance, lifting the energy of the entire room to match that of the quartet on the stage. There's even some tongue-in-cheek crowd work as Heidi, searching for a watch, asking the crowd, "What time is it?"...queue a muffled "About quarter to nine" from somewhere in the crowd. What the time actually was: "It's Killin' Time, Baby" (Eye For An Eye..., 2023), which, if the crowd wasn't yet metaphorically losing their shit, they were at this point.
BUTCHER BABIES
We then had a duo of new singles, "Lost In Your Touch" and the, at the time unreleased, "Black Dove," which would hit streamers at midnight that same night. One thing is clear from the new material: any of the turbulence the band has experienced in the recent past is now in the rearview mirror; we are most definitely here for the direction they are heading in and cannot wait to see where that takes us next.
"Spittin' Teeth" (...Til the World's Blind, 2023) sees Heidi vaulting over the barrier and into the crowd, all the while conducting the circle pit about her. Once back onstage, it was the emotionally charged "Last December," a song laced with Heidi's own thoughts and demons from a darker time in 2019. Before one last cathartic release of energy and a trip back to the beginning with "Magnolia Blvd" (Goliath, 2013)
The cherry on top of tonight's heavy metal cake was Moldovan nu metal/groove metal/metalcore heavyweights Infected Rain, who, with the addition of some 'stone' pillars and a set of screens showcasing some absolutely mesmerising visuals, somehow managed to take the energy of the night to even more stratospheric heights.
With the Moldovan flag aloft in the crowd, the band kicks off with the yet-to-be-released namesake of the tour, "Mutation Phase," before a full-force duo forms 2024's TIME in the form of "THE ANSWER IS YOU" and "DYING LIGHT." Right from the rip it's clear that we are in for something special, a blur of dreadlocks and a beautiful audio/visual assault on the senses; Eugen Voluta's drumming is fierce, Alice Lane is a commanding presence on bass, and Vidick is borderline possessed, a caged animal baying to be released in the form of disgustingly technical riffs. Lena Scissorhands is a magician in the centre, ferociously sweet, she has Birmingham in the palm of her hand.
INFECTED RAIN
"Black Gold" (Endorphin, 2019) gets a big reaction from the crowd. The recently released single "Stranger," which came out only this week, is a force to be reckoned with.
We were then treated to "The Realm of Chaos" (Ecdysis, 2022) in the form that it was meant to be enjoyed as Butcher Babies' Heidi returned to the stage for the collab single.
This is followed by another teaser from the new record, another as yet unreleased track, "Ut Supra." The third new track that we've been lucky enough to hear tonight, the new material is superb; we cannot wait to get the full release into our earholes at some point in 2026.
INFECTED RAIN
"PANDEMONIUM" (TIME, 2024) lives up to its name; the crowd has lost all sense of decorum at this stage of the night. Gloriously organised carnage may be the best description of the brummy masses.
We stick with the most recent album, 2024's TIME, for "NEVER TO RETUEN" and "BECAUSE I LET YOU" before the night comes to a close with "Judgemental Trap" and sees Lena down at the barrier sharing the last moments of the set with the crowd.
Kudos to all of the bands tonight. I have it on good authority that they all stayed at the merch booth late into the night to make sure that everyone who wanted one was able to snap a pic and grab an autograph.
All three bands stick together as the MUTATION PHASE IN EUROPE tour continues across the continent through the end of April before Infected Rain heads over the Atlantic for the MUTATION PHASE IN THE US leg of the tour alongside Stitched Up Heart through May and June.
