NEW ORLEANS | There's a certain sense of "survival of the fittest" in the world of modern industrial music.

Your new band sounds too much like your guitarist's old project? You're done. New album recycling the same beats and samples as 10 years ago? Forget it.

It's this sort of industrial evolution that has kept the real heavyweights of industrial rock music looking toward new frontiers of technological noise for over 20 years.  As one of the most prolific and long-running projects in the genre, Sascha Konietzko's KMFDM are well aware of the ongoing need to evolve and refine their sound, and it shows.

The group's performance at House of Blues Saturday night showcased a sharp, tight live band fronted by Konietzko and his wife Lucia Cifarelli (formerly of Drill and KMFDM side project MDFMK) with an explosive pseudo-militant vibe that had fans moshing in the crowd and fists in the air throughout the venue.  Opening with the heavy-hitting "D.I.Y." from 1999's "Adios,"  the group thrashed harder than any up-and-coming knockoff could hope to.

As Sascha K's trademark "Ultra Heavy Beat" fueled the fire, the set twisted through a wild variety of styles and sounds, from the head-banging "Tohuvabohu" to the surprisingly sexy "Attak/Reload" and even the self-parodying "Megalomaniac."  The band kept were on point through the entire show, never losing the cohesiveness they began with.

Hundreds of black-clad fans cheered as the group finished out the night with an encore of the massive "WWIII" and their classic "Godlike." After 25 whole years in the nihilistic world of industrial music, KMFDM have evolved themselves to the top of the proverbial food chain.

They clearly intend to stay there.