Butcher Babies & Infected Rain

Metal Mayhem at Ääniwalli: Infected Rain, Butcher Babies & Black Spikes

Tuesday nights in Helsinki aren’t usually known for being total riots, but Ääniwalli was the place to be this week. The energy was high, the riffs were heavy, and Vallila felt more like a weekend than a random weekday. Here’s what went down.

Black Spikes

I have to start with a bit of a confession: I messed up my timing and missed the first few tracks of Black Spikes. It seriously bummed me out because I’ve been looking forward to seeing them. From what I caught, they were excellent. Their visual game is on another level, and they really know how to set a mood. I’m a big fan of these guys and I’m already crossing my fingers for a return date. In the meantime, I’ll be spinning the EP I picked up at the merch booth. They’ve got a full LP coming out soon, and that’s a guaranteed purchase for me.

Butcher Babies

Next up was Butcher Babies, and honestly, it felt like a wild aerobics class mixed with heavy groove metal. The energy was frantic. The crowd was clearly loving it, and the band brought that classic American hospitality to the stage.

There was a pretty touching moment mid-set involving some paper notes that made one of the singers get visibly emotional. To be honest, I’m still not entirely sure where those notes came from or what the full story was, but it was a cool moment regardless. Even though I wasn’t super familiar with their material beforehand, the show worked well. They know how to entertain.

Infected Rain

The undisputed stars of the night were Infected Rain. This modern metal machine from Moldova delivers every single time. Lena Scissorhands is easily one of the most charismatic and impressive frontpersons in the game right now. The way she commands the entire room is just incredible.

I did feel a slight bit of „second-hand embarrassment“ from a few drunken older guys shouting „Leeee-na! Leeee-na!“ like they were at a hockey game, but hey, that’s live music for you. It didn’t ruin the vibe. The whole band played like a well-oiled machine. Alice Lane had some minor technical issues with her bass halfway through, but they handled it like pros. Meanwhile, Vadim „Vidick“ Ojog was shredding so hard with his dreads flying everywhere that it’s a miracle his hair didn’t get tangled in the guitar strings. Eugene Voluta’s drums felt a little quiet in the mix, but his performance was so solid it didn’t really matter.

The highlight was definitely in the middle of the set when Lena encouraged the crowd to start surfing. The whole song was a non-stop crowd surfing mayhem. Then, „out of nowhere“, Heidi Shepherd from Butcher Babies surfed back on stage for a killer duet.

Verdict

Overall, the night was a massive success. Even though it was a Tuesday (seriously, why always Tuesday?), the Helsinki crowd showed up and kept the atmosphere through the roof. Let’s hope Moldova’s finest gift to the metal world finds their way back here soon. Stay loud!