Released via InsideOut, a label with an eye for the unusual, One offers up eight tracks of progressive metal from Ou. Hailing from Bejing, Ou have a unique sound that arguably cleaves closest to the soaring, operatic epics of Arjen Anthony Lucassen, not least thanks to the powerful vocals of singer Lynn Wu, although to offer too close a comparison is to do the band an injustice and the album covers a remarkable array of ground over its relatively svelte, forty-minute run-time.
While opening number Travel offers an airy, relatively conventional sound, things take a turn for the strange with the dizzying Farewell. With Lynn’s remarkable vocals sitting on a line somewhere between Anneke Van Giersbergen and Bjork, the band conjure up a powerful, stuttering backdrop, powered by Anthony Vanacore’s impressive drumming and bolstered by Jing Zhang’s stabbing riffs. It’s a truly unique sound the band conjure, and while certain references raise their heads from time to time, the band never stay static long enough to sound like anything other than themselves – no mean feat in an already crowded market. Similarly agile, The Mountain pits jazzy time signatures against rippling synth, paring back the guitar and allowing Lynn’s multitracked vocals to shine. This approach also adds to the impact when the guitars do finally surge into view, and the slightly shell-shocked listener can only sit back in awe at the musical dexterity on display. After so exhausting a display, the gentle Ghost allows a certain respite, with shimmering synths and echo-laden vocals evoking the sound of a collaboration between Kate Bush and Vangelis.
One of two lengthier pieces on the album, the seven-minute Euphoria allows the band to flex their creative muscles, and the result is a piece that ebbs and flows beautifully. An ethereal piece, the track sees the band providing a sparse, sometimes ominous backdrop as wave after wave of Lynn’s vocals wash over the listener. It’s simply a remarkable piece of music that needs to be heard to be fully appreciated, and it showcases the band’s willingness to expand into ambient territory as a counterpoint to the metallic thunder found elsewhere. Not that metallic thunder is in short supply. The shorter Prejudice sees the band whip up quite a storm, with the guitars scything away with considerable force. Another long track, Dark is a wonderfully varied and atmospheric journey through the night, before the short, sweet Light brings this mesmerising set to an end, with a piece of music that sounds like more like Aphex twin than Amorphis.
There are many reasons to love Ou’s remarkable debut album, as it offers something genuinely unique for even the most jaded prog fan. Nevertheless, much attention will be placed (and rightly so) on Lynn Wu’s remarkable vocal dexterity. Lynn has the rare ability to slip between bruising blues rasp and soaring operatic flights of fancy, often in the same verse, and it elevates the already impressive music, allowing for expressions of both innocence and anger, according to the needs of the music. One is one of those albums where the more you listen, the more you find to admire in the myriad layers of which each track is comprised, and the result is one of the year’s most consistently surprising and impressive efforts. Well worth checking out. 9/10
