On the opening leg of The Mutation Phase tour, Infected Rain, Butcher Babies, and Black Spikes delivered exactly the kind of show that reminds you why heavy music hits differently when it’s live, loud, and completely in your face.

Words & photos by David Prentice (davidprentice_media) | March 28, 2026

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March 25th marked the opening night of The Mutation Phase UK and EU tour, and Glasgow was ready. Infected Rain, the Moldovan heavyweights who have spent years carving out a reputation as one of the most visceral live acts in modern metal, rolled into Slay with Los Angeles outfit Butcher Babies alongside them as co-headliners, and Lithuanian rising force Black Spikes rounding out a bill that felt genuinely exciting from top to bottom. It’s a package that rewards the adventurous, and on this particular Tuesday night, Glasgow proved it was more than up for it.

Doors opened at 6:30, and already the venue was filling up in a way that bodes well for the night ahead. A strong turnout for a support act is always a sign that the crowd has done their homework, and Black Spikes were met with exactly the kind of reception they deserved. Hailing from Lithuania and bringing a sound that draws from across the spectrum of metal, they wasted no time making themselves known to a room that had no obligation to care and ended up very much caring. The raw energy was immediate, the guitar riffs hitting with the kind of weight that makes you recalibrate your expectations mid-set. Their stage presence was equally striking, leaning into a visual experience that felt fully realised rather than tacked on. A band blending influences across metal genres with this much conviction is one worth keeping a very close eye on.

Then came Butcher Babies, making their return to Glasgow for the first time since the By The Order Tour with Cradle of Filth over at the SWG3 Galvanizers. The step down in venue size did absolutely nothing to diminish them. If anything, the tighter space made the whole thing feel even more charged. Heidi Shepard is a force of nature on stage, the kind of frontperson who commands a room not just through volume but through sheer presence. There is a drama baked into Butcher Babies’ music that makes their live show feel like an event, and Shepard leans into every second of it. What stood out just as much as the performance itself was how deliberately she connected with the crowd. Not just the front row, not just the people who fought for a spot near the barrier, but everyone. Back, front, sides. She noticed the whole room, and the whole room felt it.

Infected Rain closed the night as co-headliners, and the weight of expectation they carried felt entirely justified. Lena Scissorhands is one of the most emotionally compelling frontpeople in heavy music today, the kind of performer who makes you feel like every song is being wrung out of something real. The whole band carry that same intensity, a group of people who play like it genuinely means something, and it comes across in every moment. The Glasgow crowd were treated to a handful of live debuts from the new record, with Mutation Phase, brand-new single Stranger, and Ut Supra all getting their first outings on this tour. Hearing new music land in a live room for the first time always carries a particular kind of electricity, and all three songs delivered.

The night’s defining moment, however, came when Heidi Shepard returned to the stage. Back in 2021, Infected Rain released The Realm of Chaos, which featured Shepard on a track that had already made its mark on fans of both bands. Seeing her join Lena side by side in the flesh, in a relatively intimate Glasgow venue, was the kind of thing that reminds you why live music exists. It was a moment that the room will not forget in a hurry, and one that felt like a fitting peak to a night that had delivered at every turn.

The Mutation Phase tour is off to a very strong start. If Glasgow is anything to go by, the rest of the run is going to be something special.