Killing Joke @ HMV Picture House, 15 Oct

Revered for their role in rearranging rock’s ever-changing template at least twice – from post-punk frontrunners to proto-industrial metal pioneers – it’s safe to say there aren’t many of Killing Joke’s pedigree left. Stalking the stage in a black boilersuit with a maniacal grin spread across his painted face – somewhere in-between Michael Myers and Mola Ram – Jaz Coleman tonight brings his unique sense of the theatrical back to the capital in the form of the group’s original incarnation.

Confidently spending their maverick hit Love Like Blood by the second song, they lean on material from recently released fourteenth album Absolute Dissent – the first LP to feature said lineup since 1982 – whilst cherry-picking enough from all eras to keep the house locked on.

Whether throwing down the primal likes of The Great Cull, or updating their dubby roots with Ghosts of Ladbroke Grove (while Coleman dances a deranged Vogue), Killing Joke’s intensity becomes engrossing; Geordie Walker’s unmistakable guitar sound proves a highlight in its own right – segueing through Requiem into Eighties, slowing his riff until it sounds like Come As You Are as he flashes a knowing grin.

“People keep asking me ‘what’s going to happen in 2012?’" says Coleman by way of introducing the ferocious Asteroid. With his talk of crashing markets, societal control, UFO sightings and an enduring predilection for the occult – who else do you quiz about the End Times? And what better band to soundtrack it. [Dave Kerr]