21 Octayne are a new band, but with some members you may have heard before. Joe Perry (he of Aerosmith fame) picked vocalist Hagen Grohe to front his side project – The Joe Perry Project. He must have sat up for days coming up with that name.
Anyway, Hagen is now the front man of this quadruplet alongside Marco Wriedt (Axxis), Andrew “The Bullet” Lauer (Paul Gilbert) and drummer Alex Landenburg (Rhapsody). All experienced musicians in other bands, together in this new one.
The core of the band was the musical section, who got together in 2010 for a jam session having known each other for some time. Once they realised that they had something they could work with, they needed the final ingredient – a vocalist. Hagen was known to them because of his high-profile work with Perry, he joined them for a taster session… and things just clicked into place.
Their debut album, Into the Open, is due out this month. Given the musicians involved, it’s no surprise that it falls easily into the “hard rock” category. Of course, this doesn’t mean that every track has to be exactly the same style.
Amongst the twelve songs (nine on regular release, an extra three on the digipak) we have fist-in-the-air rockers, catchy sing-along choruses, a hint of blues and some powerful balladry. Some of the tracks are actually pretty heavy with a tuned-down feel to them, then the next one will have you bouncing in your seat. I’d even argue that there’s the vaguest hint of prog here and there. Variety is very much the name of the game here.
In short, if you like the genre then you’re very likely to enjoy 21 Octayne. As ever, a taster track below and links to other information online below.
Physical release dates are:
- Japan – 21st May
- Europe – 23rd May
- UK – 26th May
- US – 27th May
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