After previous Soundscreen successes, it’s no surprise to see the Dome Studio house a full capacity crowd – all ready for a collision between noise and picture. But at last year’s gig the link between audio and video was too tenuous at times; as if they were strangers awkwardly pushed together at a party. Sonically though, there’s more of a theme this year and with an emphasis on post-rock bands the venue was bound to be busy.

But before we saw any form of video, the stage was plunged into near-darkness while a philosophical voiceover spoke over twinkling beeps and scratchy glitches to signal the introduction of Them The Sky. As the layers of texture swelled, so too did the atmosphere in the room. Then, just as it became excessive, the drums unleashed the second part of ‘Rides’ along with the bulging tension. The projector also burst into life with shots of cloudy blue skies and dense starlight evoking a sense of wanderlust.

Avid fans of Them The Sky will have noticed the addition of a flutist – their warm, organic tone set against the band’s cold post-rock ambience (this wasn’t helped when the mic struggled to handle the flute’s piercing lines). Them The Sky have an inherent ability to lift you with discretely dramatic crescendos despite the calm, shoegaze presence. This was amplified by the last video in their set; a sweet animation of kite flyers who unwittingly have their insides pulled out by the flimsy diamonds.

The second act of the night were the similarly sounding and equally ethereal Phoria who recently exploded onto the blogosphere with ‘Red’. The opener was a dark, eerie track full of hums and drones, accompanied by visceral visuals, with soft harmonies that breathed life into an otherwise desolate soundscape. Three of the members have been playing music since they were six, and it shows; the maturity and composure in their sound belies their ‘new band’ tag.

There’s a confidence in their undulating arrangements that tugs you along effortlessly. This meant some tracks didn’t really need much in the way of animation; title track ‘Red’ only had foggy red light to complement it. The thick, reflective vocals and deliberate keys are wonderfully patient allowing the track to build like a slow-motion avalanche. Phoria are quite simply masters of their sound; a spacious one that seamlessly synergises the classical piano, unobtrusive beats, textured synths and vocals.

We thought Written In Waters would struggle to top this, but how wrong we were! Beth Cannon’s beguiling and boisterous vocals are absolutely immediate; no matter how loud you turn your speakers up, they will never capture the sheer power that’s delivered on the live stage. If Beth were to battle Florence Welch in a tug of war with their larynx, SOURCE tips Beth to win.

But beneath the thespian vocals is a bed of instrumentals which the quintet manipulates expertly, creating a haunting resonance that shifts dynamically between inebriated elation and chilling catharsis. Written In Waters also had the benefit of memorably artistic visuals. Final track ‘The Fall’ was supplemented with a video of somebody attempting to escape the clutches of a cannibalistic kidnapper. It was gritty, but coupled with the music, somehow majestic. Even without the wonderfully crafted videos, Written In Waters undoubtedly gave the most impressive performance of the night; it’s not often you hear the vocalist overpower the driving drums.

Soundscreen is still on a learning curve, albeit a steep one. Tonight highlighted the organisers’ desire to bring more coherence to the event. Not just in the music but also in the relationship between sound and screen. It’s a relationship that often appears stale in popular music like a marriage that’s reached an impasse. But Soundscreen proves that with the right music and the right group of visual artists, the relationship can be a happy and rewarding one where each complements the other.

Dome Studio, Sunday 14th April 2013
Words by Matthew Yau