NEARING the end of their world tour, which included their first US gigs in a decade, Essex boys Nitzer Ebb are living the dream as they return to perform on home soil in this appropriately Berlin bunker-esque venue.

Their raw sound, thankfully ungarnished by the overproduction that has sullied the sound of more recent industrial bands, has a straight-up post-punk ethos that was very much a part of the 1980s zeitgeist inspired by the anti-Thatcher protest movement.

Donning a black suit and aviators, singer Douglas McCarthy launches into Blood Money and For Fun as Bon Harris energetically pounds away on the drum pads before stepping up to collaborate on vocals on Getting Closer.

The pair have a memorable stage presence as McCarthy chants "left, right, left" on Once You Say in front of a backdrop of a hammer, star and cog, the artwork for their breakthrough 1987 album That Total Age.

They play their most famous hit from that record, Join In The Chant, as well as Murderous and Let Your Body Learn, while saving the speed-beat Alarm for the encore.

They may be friends and peers of the more successful Depeche Mode but Nitzer Ebb's got the grit and are certainly the most Teutonic sounding Chelmsford lads you'll ever hear.