Infected Rain have only played in Manchester in support slots but all of those brief appearances have made a massive impression on the headbanging masses of Manchester. Their last appearance opening for Dragonforce and Amaranthe ended with them earning a large amount of brand new fans desperate to hear their breed of nu-metal inspired melodic death metal again, this time in a much more intimate venue.
Acting as support for this wonderfully short but violent evening of female-fronted heavy metal was Sheffield based Skarlett Riot. Skarlett Riot made an impression right out the gate with an almost painful mix that felt like a punch in the gut with each beat from the kick drum. The songs were abrasive and anthemic but still had a great sense of melody held together by melodeath inspired killer guitar work on tracks like ‘Gravity’ and ‘Chemicals’.
Skarlett Riot’s sound sometimes feels like a more aggressive Lacuna Coil, albeit with one vocalist doing an amazing job balancing cleans with screams. Their anthemic choruses on tracks like ‘Paralyzed’ invoke radio metal of the 2000s but with a modern twist. There’s a great deal of variety in their back catalogue as they go through blazing heavy metal ragers to soft and introspective ballads like their new single ‘Luminate’.
The band ended their set with guitarist Danny Oglebsy and vocalist Skarlett Drinkwater entering the pit with the fullest intention of throwing down. A full speed circle pit fully surrounded the guitarist as ‘Warrior’ built up in intensity. Just like that the entire room was frenzied and ready for Infected Rain.
Infected Rain came on stage to the seething intensity of ‘Real of Chaos’. They perfectly demonstrate the power of a well crafted buildup and a carefully considered yet devastating first impression. Vocalist Lena Scissorhands is the focal point of a great deal of these songs, her ability to jump from aggressive screams to anthemic cleans makes her a force to be reckoned with and a phenomenal example of the strength and intensity of female fronted metal.
The majority of the set was made up of tracks from their latest album Time, not to be confused with the long awaited Wintersun album, Time II. These tracks have a more brooding and introspective feeling than some of the older and more abrasive tracks like ‘Fighter’ or ‘The Earth Mantra’. The groove metal sensibilities of the band are on full display with tracks like ‘Vivarium’ as the bendy rubbery guitar 8 string guitar riffs and air tight rhythm section of Drummer Eugene Voluta and Bassist Alice Lane accompany them, making a brilliantly sinister dance hall of battle-hardened metalheads.
Tracks like ‘The Answer Is You’ have this almost industrial vibe in the same vein as Fear Factory, the rhythm section is just as airtight and the aggression is constantly at critical mass. An Infected Rain show is a dangerous place if you’re not mindful of your surroundings but a caring and welcoming audience did a fantastic job balancing a wild and out of control place while still welcoming the newer folks. As someone who likes to think of the metal community as an inclusive and safe space, it’s important to recognise that it can be an exclusionary and harsh environment. Seeing so many women crowd surfing and dominating the pit was a fantastic sight to behold as the girls took centre stage, figuratively and literally.
The moody lighting added a great deal to the show, the slow clean sections of songs like ‘Dying Light’ gave time for quiet introspection and a moment to catch your breath in between taking near-constant beatings through the more aggressive tracks. A personal highlight of the show was ‘Paura,’ a track with a great deal of seething aggression brimming below the surface of a trap-style beat and infectious bass groove and clean guitar work before ultimately imploding into a stomping riff for maximum impact. The buildup is such an important part of making a song heavy and ‘Paura’ balances that beautifully.
The encore still had a crazy amount of energy as the walls of Rebellion were torn apart during the violent riffing of ‘Enmity’. The show ended with guitarist Vidck Ojog stage diving into the crowd on the beat during the crushing chugs of ‘Sweet Sweet Lies’. This was all going on while a rowing pit was being erected in the centre of the pit, something I’d heard about but had never seen in person. This whole song was a brilliant showcase of the palpable insanity that exists in Manchester and all it took to start a feral pit was a little bit of rain.
Infected Rain may be a cult band but they feel more like an amazing secret held by the metal community that is just starting to spread. There may not be a massive audience for them just yet but everyone at the show during the Time tour can take solace in knowing they saw Infected Rain before they became a massive deal. “Thank you so much for your smile, for your sweat, for your positivity” said Lena before the band retired for the night and the inhabitants of Manchester went off to treat their wounds.
It’s also worth noting that Infected Rain didn’t take 12 years to release Time… make of that what you will.
