And So I Watch You From Afar @ Summerhall, Edinburgh, 8 Aug

Glasgow-based rock outfit Halo Tora are the lone support for ASIWYFA tonight, and bring with them a bulky, gloomy collection of noises that are the perfect warm-up for a band of a similar nature – minus the lyrical content, of course. There’s not much in the way of movement from the bustling crowd, but heads are certainly nodding their way along to a riff-raff of jugular basslines and throbbing beats.

There’s a hell of a lot of anticipation around the venue for And So I Watch You From Afar as the Northern Irishmen prepare to board the stage. As the lights go out, a sea of feedback mixed with synthetic, purring pedalboards lures the quintet out of the dressing room and onto Summerhall’s diminutive stage. Guitarists Rory Friers and Niall Kennedy stand either side of bassist Jonathon Adger, looking as tall and almighty as the sounds their tech can pull off. As soon as they burst into the 100mph opener that is Gang (Starting Never Stopping) there’s a hoard of people moshing in the middle of the crowd.

Across the set, there’s a constant chorus of upbeat, trickling hammer-ons and pull-offs, all harmonised and perfectly in sync between the two guitarists who never miss a note. As a live group, they’re pretty explorative in what their guitars can do and dive between glossy, shimmering sounds before crashing back in with raging distortion and gain. While a lot of the set is high-intensity prog rock, it doesn’t get repetitive. In fact, at times the livelier part of the audience are almost shocked when there's a change in pace, but that only goes to show ASIWYFA’s ability to completely control a room.

After a tiny stint off stage, the group re-emerge for an emphatic one-two encore of Eunoia and Big Thinks Do Remarkable, before bowing out in the same fashion they entered the mix with gristly feedback rumbling heavily, before a simple flick of an amp switch cuts the room to a dead silence.