They looked like the offspring of the Village People and the old Alice Cooper band as they strutted around the stage with their sailor caps, makeup and take-no-prisoners stares. But their sound was unmistakably descended from the blue blood lineage of glam-rock/hard-rock royalty.

The "they" in question were the six members of the Norwegian punk-metal group Turbonegro, who took the stage Tuesday night at Metro and unleashed a truly searing set that may have left permanent scorch marks throughout the venue. Turbonegro's calling card is its raunchy, gay-themed brand of hard-rock, and on numbers like "Wipe It 'Til It Bleeds" and "Sell your Body (to the Night)," the band promptly and graphically indulged its fondness for rough sex and rougher riffing.

In fact, on ferocious punk-metal blitzkriegs like "Turbonegro Must Be Destroyed" and "Gimme Some," the band brilliantly fused two of rock's grandest traditions: trashy, good-natured decadence and edgy, menacing music. But what elevated Turbonegro above the morass of derivative, gimmicky glam rockers was its boundless supply of insanely catchy hooks and truly titanic musicianship.

While it was tempting to attribute Turbonegro's impressive power to the skills of one or two band members, no one musician truly stood out. Rather, drummer Chris Summers, guitarist Pal Pot Pamparius, lead guitarist Euroboy, bassist Happy Tom and guitarist Rune Rebellion merged into a single, truly cohesive rock colossus that poured out killer riff after killer riff like a foundry streaming molten steel.

The only true focal point in the band was rotund lead singer Hank Von Helvete, who looked like a cross between the Pillsbury Doughboy and Linda Blair in "The Exorcist." The large crowd was stoked to a near frenzy. While body slamming and general rowdiness aren't exactly uncommon at rock concerts, the quantity of flying beer cups, moshing and would-be stage divers wrestling with security guards reached rarely seen levels Tuesday night.

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