Rock’ in Solace

Both the bands were in town to perform at the Fuel Great India Rock Festival at Oasis on Friday. The bands performed alongside Mumbai-based Bhayanak Maut and Scribe,and Pune-based Zygnema. While Solstate’s music is plain,hard hitting untampered rock with a taste for acoustic tunes,Benea Reach is a progressive metal outfit. Speaking about their unique name,founding member of Benea Reach and drummer,Marco says,”The name basically is a play on the Latin word Benea which means ‘Glory’ or ‘Grace’ and the word Reach. So the band name literally translates into Reaching out for Glory.”

The distinctive sound of the Norwegian black metal genre is the USP of the band. Speaking more about it vocalist of the band,Ilkka adds,”To be very honest the Scandinavian rock scene is distinctive divided. While the Swedish bands are more into melodic metal,bands from Norway are more focused on the power and sheer brutality of the music. As our band has three Swedes and three Norwegians we do incorporate a little of all this.”

Dead against performing covers of other bands the two bands played songs from their own albums. “It’s a different thing to be inspired by a band and something totally unacceptable by ripping off their songs and calling oneself a band. Even though all of us have our own influences we do make it a point to use them only to inspire us to play good music and not to rip off music,” says guitarist Zorran Mendonsa,of Solstate.

Both bands do echo a similar sentiment when it comes to their maiden performance in India. While McKubre feels that since they perform with an open mind in front of all audiences they usually have a great time on stage,Ilkka roots for the sheer strength of the music to lift up even the most sagged out audiences. “It’s all about connecting with an audience,through the music. Be it western or even the Indian Bollywood songs,if its good they are applauded the world over,” adds Ilkka wisely.