Bengaluru’s Inner Sanctum to play at Desert Inferno in Dubai

It has been over a decade since Inner Sanctum were booked for an international show but as guitarist and primary songwriter Chintan Chinnappa says, they prefer doing things the organic way.

“I believe we still are that old-school band which wants people to be impressed with our performance first, and then hope that translates into making fans. I think that’s a bit more sustainable for us,” says Chintan.

After their 2013 Europe tour and a set at the Inferno Metal Festival in Oslo, Norway in 2015, Inner Sanctum released their debut album, Legions Awake (also in 2015) and became known for their incendiary live performances across India. A few lineup changes followed but Bengaluru’s pulverising act currently has Chintan on guitars, vocalist Shashank Bhatnagar, bassist Narayan Shrouthy, drummer Ujwal KS and returning guitarist Tejas Jayaraman.

Inner Sanctum
| Photo Credit:
Mohit Concert Photography

With that, Inner Sanctum are heading to Dubai to perform at the gig series Desert Inferno on August 9 at Oak Live Bar. Chintan says, “Dubai is a hotspot of people from across the world, so I hope people hear about the band, turn up for the event and support us.”

While it is not a multi-city tour, Chintan is happy that gig promoter Resurrection is “actively taking the effort to bring an Indian band” and promote heavy music from the country.

This will be the band’s first international show with the current lineup, and Chintan is only half-joking when he says they are “sick of playing in India” because they have conquered all the big stages and clubs. “I think Dubai would be happy to see a band from India bring a certain level of professionalism on stage, which is what we’re looking at achieving, and I’m hoping that this will be the starting point for us to go back there again.”

While he has been to the Gulf city in a personal capacity before, it is quite likely it will be the first time for a few other band members. Chintan says, “I’m quite certain Narayan and Shashank haven’t visited Dubai, simply because Narayan got his passport only a couple of months ago.”

The show also comes at a time when Inner Sanctum are changing up their setlist, but they also understand some fans in Dubai will probably be seeing them live for the first time. “We had phased out a bunch of tracks, especially older ones from our Provenance EP (2009). But a lot of folks in Dubai want to listen to some of our older stuff, so we’ll blend in some of our newer tracks too, and see how that goes,” the guitarist says.

Inner Sanctum
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Newer material includes their 2023 single ‘The Face of Evil’, but there are also songs with Bhatnagar, who joined the band in 2023 replacing Gaurav Basu, that are being road-tested live and being prepped for release. Chintan feels it is about time, since all the previous records have had a different lineup.

“This was one of the reasons why we thought it was important for us to put out a new release — having something that displays what Inner Sanctum is now, as compared to what we were in 2009.”

To that end, Chintan says, “the focus is 100% on writing and finalising” new songs. He adds, “There are a few gigs lined up. But we are making it a point to not take up large gigs, unless and until we can change our setlist altogether.”