Victor Wooten and Billy Sheehan Featured on Prog-Metal Band Octavision’s Debut
Just over four years ago, No Treble readers were blown away by Octavision’s debut single, “Three Lives”, which featured the mighty Victor Wooten on bass. Now the group has released its first full-length album, called Coexist.
Octavision is the brainchild of guitarist Hovak Alaverdyan, who wisely tapped Wooten and fellow bass monster Billy Sheehan to fill out the low end for the record. Coexist also features singer Jeff Scott Soto, drummer Roman Lomtadze, keyboardist Murzo, and Avo Margaryan on Blul, a flute-like instrument from Armenia.
“Being unique is a big priority to me, so a big part of the idea was to work with some of the most unique musicians with their signature tone and style of playing, who are also great human beings,” the bandleader explains. “That’s very important to me. I can say I’m blessed to have this team of musicians because they are just amazing.”
“This is some of the most amazing music as well as some of most difficult music that I’ve ever had to play,” says Wooten. “I love the music, I love the sounds, and the musicians. I’m honored to be on it.”
“What a challenge it was to play the Octavision stuff – a beautiful challenge,” Sheehan concurs. “I grew up with the major scales. Hovak’s heritage is quite different, so it’s so great to be exposed to that. It’s a way of doing scales and intervals that to a lot of peoples’ ears is quite exotic. It was to mine.”
Wooten is featured on three tracks – “Proctagon”, “Three Lives”, and “So It Begins” – while Sheehan is on the other four – “Mindwar”, “Coexist”, “Apocalyptus”, and “Stormbringer”. Hear Sheehan tear it up on the title track:
Coexist is available now as a digital download through Bandcamp and the Octavision website. It will be on more streaming platforms soon with CDs coming this month and vinyl shipping in April.
Coexist Track List:
- Mindwar
- Coexist
- Proctagon
- Apocalyptus
- Three Lives
- Stormbringer
- So It Begins
In his time with No Treble, Kevin has met hundreds of amazing bassists and interviewed icons like Jack Casady, Victor Wooten, Les Claypool, Marcus Miller, and more. He's a gigging bassist performing jazz in Northern Virginia and bluegrass with The Plate Scrapers up and down the East Coast. Kevin appreciates all genres of music, from R&B to metal and everything in between. Connect with Kevin on Facebook and check his performance schedule on his website.
