For all those metalheads who thought Joey Jordison of Slipknot was the undisputed drumming champion of the world, think again.

With their awesome power, controlled Asian demeanour and mesmerizing rhythms, the Kodo Taiko Drummers, on stage at the Dome on Monday night, are an insuperable force.

These are athletes of the highest order, their lithe frames belying an awesome power. Their whole bodies are thrown in to the beat of a huge two-man drum at the back, beaten with sticks the size of baseball bats.

The men at the front hold their frames in a painful half-situp, just the right position to hammer out their repetitive sounds.

Mixing strength with agility, they displayed their musical prowess with a fine ensemble of basic percussion sounds in the nights only comedy number.

Showing off the tautest quad muscles in the auditorium, Taiko drummers walked around in a low squat, their tinny triangle and small round drum ping-ponging between each other for comic effect.

The variety of sounds and rhythms, mixing beats with traditional Japanese flute and strings, kept this from becoming a mere two-hour drumming set.

It was a stunning dramatic performance, the peaks and troughs, crescendos and tight diminuendos holding the audience in trance-like fixation.