When was the last time prog metal was truly progressive? Complex? Naturally. Challenging? Sure. But in terms of genuine, boundary-pushing sonic adventure, it’s been eating its own tail for a while. That’s what makes Beijing’s OU – pronounced ‘O’ – so exciting.
Their first album slipped in under the radar midway through 2022, but those who were listening clocked it was something unique and not a little special. Musically, it piled on the knotty riffs and time changes, but it had something else in singer Lynn Wu. Like Björk singing in Mandarin Chinese, she spiralled and swooped around the high registers, creating something unworldly and unlike anything else out there right now.
