INFECTED RAIN, STITCHED UP HEART, FROM ASHES TO EMBERS & BACHLEOR’S GROVE - The Forge, May 25TH 2026

Metalheads, it appears, will support any gender just like they willingly support any race, color or creed. The tie is the music.

I’ll admit I was on the fence about going to this show. Although it was, Memorial Day Weekend and I would have an extra day to recover, I wasn’t sure I could make it out to The Forge (22 W Cass Street Joliet, IL)

Infected Rain had been on my ‘heavy metal radar’ since I saw the “Orphan Soul” music video on Youtube. I bought a copy of the band’s self-released studio effort 86 (2017) on their website and even did an interview with lead vocalist Elena Cataraga a.k.a. Lena Scissorhands.

Established in 2008 and hailing from one of the most unlikely spots in the world, Moldova, a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. The group featured a unique take on the metalcore genre mixing hardcore with hip-hop, but it was their singular drive and uncompromising resilience that really impressed me. I told as many people as I could about the band and hoped that one day a major record label would see what I already knew, Infected Rain was a band on the rise.

Their music held strong lyrics and offered an artistically visual presentation seldom found in modern metal. Needless to say, I was happy they were signed by Napalm Records in 2019 and really looking forward to bearing witness to the band’s undeniable dominance and musical evolution.

Metal Channel Editor, Roger Schultz, and I arrived at the venue as From Ashes To Embers was preparing to take the stage. Unfortunately, we missed the opening act Bachelor’s Grove. The group was named after the infamous cemetery located in the southwest Chicago suburbs, Midlothian/Oak Forest, IL. Known as an abandoned 1840s burial ground, it is widely considered to be one of the most haunted sites in the United Sates. It’s spooky lore features floating orbs, a phantom farmhouse, and a famed specter known as the “Madonna of Bachelor’s Grove”. This is a local band, established 2018, that holds a lot of hype. I spoke with the group throughout my time at the venue and hope to catch them live sometime soon.

From Ashes To Embers is another local Chicago act. Established back in 2021. The music of this hard-hitting sextet can best be described as alternative / metalcore. Featuring both clean and harsh vocals, which were executed by male (harsh) and female (clean) respectively. I thought the band’s crowd interaction was great, it was cool seeing both vocalists out there in the circle pit, everyone in the on-hand crowd seemed to be having a really good time. This definitely a group I’d like to experience again. I must admit that these past few years have made me think the ‘Chicago Metal Scene’ was waning but having attended a couple of shows at The Forge (22 W Cass St, Joliet, IL), Reggies (2105 S State St, Chicago, IL) and The West Chicago Social Club (920 Roosevelt Rd, West Chicago, IL) these past several months having me believing the local is making a strong re-bound.

Up next was Stitched Up Heart from Los Angels, California. This was an act I’ve heard of but never experienced live. Although they appear to be labeled as a hard rock act their music is most definitely what I would consider gothic metal with a metalcore tinge. Upon researching the band, I discovered this new music direction was a recent change, unveiled during the band’s 2023 effort, To The Wolves.

A re-vamped, hard-hitting, vocal attack has been unleashed. Comparable to bands like In This Moment and Butcher Babies, everyone seems to think the group has finally found its sound. A new effort, Medusa, is set to be unveiled on July 24th, 2026 via Judge & Jury Records.

A new music video for the song, “GLITCH B*TCH” (featuring Conquer Divide). I watched this music video prior to heading out to the venue and I’ll admit I was thoroughly impressed.

Seeing this act live was like watching the music video come to life. Scream and smoke, the prevailing opinion was to divide and conquer, at all costs! The crowd appeared ready for it. Stitched Up Heart tore through their setlist and left us wanting more.

Infected Rain was the final act of the evening, and the group was so much more than I ever would have expected. As you probably know, seeing a band live and watching their music videos are two strikingly different things, what’s lacking in the latter is crowd interaction. Watching a video is like being a witness to an event, while attending a concert is being part of it. Infected Rain brought us all into their music and stressed that relationship in spades. They did things like having us all sit on the ground prior to playing a tune or turning on our camera’s flashlight during a specific song.

In addition, I didn’t anticipate the band’s emphasis on the relationship between music and artistry. Infected Rain’s live set featured two large video screen that played snippets of the band’s current music videos as well as other stylized shots that seemingly enhanced the group’s crowd interaction and overall set. The unlikely band from Moldova and their ‘mutation phase’ had won over the crowd.

As I drove home that night, I contemplated women and their role in today’s metal scene. I remember in 2010 when I first started off in this business, reviewing music and going to shows, female fronted bands were few and far between. Tonight I saw four bands that all were fronted by women. The music is definitely harder, but the crowd interaction has seemingly remained the same. Metalheads, it appears, will support any gender just like they willingly support any race, color or creed. The tie is the music. \m/