I had a set of Avon Distanzias (adventure tourer type tyres with a bit of off-road pretension) that gripped quite well and lasted well. they were oddly a bit stiff for the first 500 or so miles.
Then tried a pair of Avon Storms, as you say, definitely a road tyre (dual compound I think), but they gripped well wet and dry. Got 3500-4000miles or so and they were starting to square off a bit. A big screw through the rear tyre meant they were replaced at that point.