"Let's say that rock'n'roll is the devil's music, and we know it for a fact to be absolutely, unequivocally true," late comedian Bill Hicks once suggested. "At least he fuckin' jams!" Satanic rockers Gay Paris would agree with such a sentiment, energetically leading attendees through tongue-in-cheek chants hailing the horned one, not to mention a slew of rollicking, bluesy tunes boasting nods to Clutch. A few nonplussed punters aside, the Sydneysiders surely left with fresh converts in time for their new record's arrival.

This reviewer has been attending The Dillinger Escape Plan's shows for more than a decade, and the time signature-bending metal/hardcore heavy-hitters remain a preeminent force. The Americans are marginally more subdued on stage nowadays — the stage-diving's less prevalent — but in this instance that's very much a relative concept for a band whose frantic live reputation well and truly precedes them.

Opening with Prancer, the intensity was no less potent, perhaps best exhibited during this affair by the bruising one-two punch of 43% Burnt and Panasonic Youth mid-set. Ben Weinman whipped both his guitar and body about with sheer abandon, while vocalist Greg Puciato (last seen Down Under alongside supergroup Killer Be Killed) stalked the stage amid vein-popping screams and smooth croons. Highway Robbery garnered one of the evening's most boisterous singalongs, and a tease of Cream's Sunshine Of Your Love segueing into Sunshine The Werewolf was an entertaining touch. A plethora of crowd-surfers ensured security earned their pay and the incessant, epileptic fit-inducing strobe lighting only enhanced the schizophrenic dynamics and overall atmosphere.

Some internationals could play a 75-minute set and the audience may leave feeling a tad short-changed. Not so here. This display emphatically underlined that The Dillinger Escape Plan are still one of the most vital live acts currently treading the boards.