Hailing from the Asian metal scene, multi-award-winning metal band Inner Sanctum has placed India on the metal map of the world. Formed in 2006 in the backdrop of the volatile socio-political environment in India, Inner Sanctum emerged as disruptors from the get-go and has worked tirelessly to promote and unite metal music and fans in India and across the globe.

Hugely respected in the world of heavy music the band has won a slew of prestigious awards – the “Band of the Year 2007” by Levis, “Band of the year 2009” by Headbangers India, “Emerging Band of the year 2010” by the Jack Daniels International Rock Awards and “Second Best Band in India 2014” by Pepsi MTV Indies and “Best Guitarist and Best Drummer” at the Rolling Stones Metal Awards 2016.

Their first offering “Provenance” in 2009 was a commercial and critical success. This record made its way into various top ten lists for 2009-10 and pushed the boundaries of metal music in Asia. Off the back of this release, the band performed alongside several legendary artists such as Metallica (Rock’N India 2011), Slayer (Rock’N India 2012), Cradle of Filth, Testament, Periphery, Meshuggah, Tesseract, Enslaved, Amon Amarth, Textures, to name a few.

In 2013, Inner Sanctum toured through Europe in support of the “Wake of Destruction Tour” with special appearances at Metal Fest, Poland, and 8 cities in Germany. Soon after, Inner Sanctum co-headlined some of the biggest music festivals in India such as NH7 Weekender, Bangalore, Kingfisher October Fest, GoMad Festival, and the like.

Inner Sanctum has consistently reinvented the wheel and is one of the few metal bands in India which was has achieved consistent mainstream and underground recognition and success.

The 2015 album “Legions Awake” was hailed as a metal masterpiece and an artistic tour-de-force from a band with a formidable and unique purpose. The album featured guest appearances by Christopher Amott (Armageddon, Ex-Arch Enemy), Daniel Mongrain (Voivod, Martyr, Ex-Gorguts, Ex- Cryptopsy, Capharnaum), and James Murphy (Ex-Death, Ex-Testament, Ex-Obituary, Ex-Lazarus A.D.).

Pursuant to the release, Inner Sanctum was invited to represent India in the Inferno Metal Festival in Norway and toured extensively to promote the album. Inner Sanctum launched its own music festival in India in 2017 called The Hardwire festival, with the primary objective of transforming India into a destination for international metal bands. The first edition was tremendously successful, and the festival was headlined by Psycroptic (Australia) and numerous Indian metal bands. The festival’s second edition is slated to happen in 2021. Inner Sanctum continues to push the threshold of metal music. In 2021 Inner Sanctum is slated to release a new record “Divided by Hate” and tour extensively in promotion of the same. They are presently in the studios tracking for the said release. Here’s our interview with the band!

The political climate in India has been bad for a while, this fueled the anger, other than that we had a few lineup changes and that was motivation enough to pick ourselves up and reinvent ourselves as a band. We wanted to write, release and perform new music with this lineup as soon as possible.

Inspiration behind Divided By Hate

Beginnings:

Gaurav: We were so young back then, let’s see if I can remember! Chintan and our old bass player Michael wanted to start a band that played death and thrash metal, I happened to chance upon them because of a friend who introduced me to them. A fondness for similar music held us together. But the band was around and jamming for almost a year before I showed up.

Behind the name:

Chintan: Porn.

Inspiration:

Jared: When you live in a third-world country there’s enough stuff to be angry about, so in a way we don’t have to look for inspiration, it’s all out there for us. Step out, get angry, write some heavy music!

About a new album:

Chintan: Pfff if only, one hardly has the time and funds for an entire album these days, but we do want to release a collection of songs in the coming year. The ideas are there, we have more songs in the pipeline, if things go according to plan you’d definitely see us dropping more music!

Teamwork:

Narayan: Well, the band sound was developed by Chintan, his brand of guitar playing has been influenced by a lot of bands we grew up listening to esp Testament, Arch Enemy, and old Gojira. So once he has the riffs down we all try and do our bits to add to that landscape… Best ideas win and that’s the song. (smiles)

COVID-19:

Arjun: No gigs man, that’s the shitty part, that affects revenue, and without that, it’s hard to plan new releases. Also, we love playing live, so not being able to perform does feel stifling. The energy and intimacy of a live gig is something we sorely miss.

Online concert:

Gaurav: We’ve been thinking about it, but we wanna do it right. A live gig is a very different experience for a concert goer, we can’t replicate that same vibe on an online show. So it’s about figuring out how to create a memorable experience for our audience.

Fun facts:

Jared: You mean the countless times we have farted or tea bagged each other when one passes out after the show? Or the time that a German blog thought we were a Nazi band and wanted to stop us from playing in Germany. Imagine that brown Nazis… ever tried a warm ice cream?