{"id":18615,"date":"2014-05-23T00:00:55","date_gmt":"2014-05-23T00:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=18615"},"modified":"2014-06-10T20:19:32","modified_gmt":"2014-06-10T20:19:32","slug":"album-review-21octayne-into-the-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-21octayne-into-the-open\/","title":{"rendered":"21OCTAYNE – Into The Open (2014) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

21OCTAYNE
\nInto The Open<\/strong><\/span>
\nAFM (2014)<\/span>
\nRating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Somewhat of a new supergroup, Germany\u2019s 21Octayne features the mercurial talents of vocalist Hagen Grohe (Joe Perry Project), guitarist Marco Wriedt (Axxis), bassist Andrew Lauer (Paul Gilbert) and drummer Alex Landenburg (Rhapsody).<\/p>\n

Into The Open<\/em> is the result of this coming together of flair; an album that boasts 12 numbers which should be enough to delight anyone with a penchant for soulful heavy metal, big rhythms and, above all, infectious choruses.<\/p>\n

The first of these comes via the orgasmic grooves of album opener \u2018She\u2019s Killing Me\u2019, which in my opinion has a Buckcherry-type swagger to it, even with Grohe\u2019s almost scratchy styled vocals which bring us to that killer chorus of, \u201cI\u2019ve got a bad, bad feeling, God I think it\u2019s killing me, I can\u2019t believe that she\u2019s taken my breath away\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This is ultra-cool rock \u2019n\u2019 roll for the masses, featuring punchy drums and fluid guitars. There\u2019s also some fantastic variation, spanning the spectrum of funky dynamics and some Aerosmith-styled strutting. \u2018Dear Friend\u2019 is a prime example of how the combo effortlessly slip between styles; at first it charges out of the blocks with a truly magnificent traditional metal trudge which then transforms into thrashier climes before the unexpected melodic whisper. Even so, the band once again inject the unpredictable, inserting jarring rhythms agai,n which are contradicted by Grohe\u2019s almost placid vocal tones before he spews out the angst-ridden lines of, \u201cI was there when you needed a friend, I was there when you needed a helping hand, now I don\u2019t get why you did this to me so I\u2019m afraid I\u2019m going to have to hate you eternally\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This is 21Octayne at their most furious, again reminding me of Buckcherry at their venomous best; the guitars are fierce, the percussion damaging and with the lows and highs in the vocals there is also the slight hint of Sixx A.M. yet with added conviction. The first two tracks are ideal cuts to kickstart the heart for what can only be described as a high-octane opus that in spite of its contemporary feel has a real steely glare.<\/p>\n

Of course, it\u2019s not all about the rage and weight; \u2018Turn The World\u2019 is a delightful harmonious, upbeat rocker, while \u2018Don\u2019t Turn Away\u2019 is about as funky as funky gets with its bubbling bass intro which eventually melts into a hip-shaking riff. The bruising weight returns with the crashing \u2018My Teddy Bear\u2019, while the title track is a sprawling, soul-revealing anthem.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s so much to savour on this record; an album bereft of filler and featuring some of the best grooves I\u2019ve heard this year. Slap on any track and you\u2019ll find yourself appreciative of the varying moods and mesmerised by the subtle shifts in tempo, which one moment make way for hefty riffs and the next flirting as delicious, summery ballads, as in the case of \u2018I Will Always Be Right There\u2019 which is breathtaking to say the least.<\/p>\n

What a superb rock album this is. Need I say more?<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

21OCTAYNE Into The Open AFM (2014) Rating: 8.5\/10 Somewhat of a new supergroup, Germany\u2019s 21Octayne features the mercurial talents of vocalist Hagen Grohe (Joe Perry Project), guitarist Marco Wriedt (Axxis), bassist Andrew Lauer (Paul Gilbert) and drummer Alex Landenburg (Rhapsody). Into The Open is the result of this coming together of flair; an album that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1202,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-21octayne","category-album-ep-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18615"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18623,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18615\/revisions\/18623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}