A technical, experimental metal band that takes their musicianship as seriously as Meshuggah require a lot of setup before playing live. But the venue could probably do a better job of keeping a restless crowd of metal heads content during the extended wait, while roadies fiddle knobs and adjust lights, than playing a seemingly endless dance remix of Rod Stewart’s Do Ya Think I’m Sexy.

The crowd’s chants of something that sounded like “more sugar” rather than the band’s name eventually led to the Swedish five-piece appearing on stage, backlit in blinding white, fists raised in salute or perhaps challenge: vocalist Jens Kidman, guitarists Fredrik Thordendal and MÃ¥rten Hagström, drummer Tomas Haake and bassist Dick Lövgren. Without a word they began crushing the crowd under immense, heavy-as-fuck riffs.

The crowd’s movements to Meshuggah’s music, rather than traditional moshing or headbanging, is more of a full body convulsion, a violent rhythmic spasm. Every time a groove is latched onto, it shifts and spins away, morphing into something else entirely. Complex, multi-layered and polyrhythmic, Meshuggah makes compelling but gruelling listening. This is not a casual, good time rock-out gig.

Perth’s show was the last date of Meshuggah’s Australian tour – their first trip down under – in support of studio recording number six, obZen, released earlier this year. The setlist was short, only eight or nine tracks lasting just over an hour – no doubt because the concentration required to maintain high intensity with those intricate rhythms is exhausting, both for band and audience. When frontman Kidman did speak, five or six songs in, it was to say hello and briefly thank the audience for coming along.

No encore was attempted – by the end, the crowd was drained of energy anyway. Meshuggah came to Perth and destroyed. The End.