Mexico City’s Vinnum Sabbathi are no strangers to the cosmic frontier. Since 2012, they’ve carved out a singular space in the heavy underground, fusing thunderous riffs with science-themed samples and cinematic atmospheres.
Their latest release, Intersatelital, marks perhaps their most ambitious voyage yet, a sprawling, immersive tribute to a pivotal chapter in Mexico’s space and technological history.
Drawing inspiration from the 1985 launches of satellites Morelos I & II and the historic STS-61-B mission that sent Dr. Rodolfo Neri into orbit as Mexico’s first astronaut, the album melds post-metal, doom, and space rock into a swirling, hypnotic journey.
With a decade-long trajectory that includes collaborations, acclaimed albums, and festival appearances across Europe and Mexico, Vinnum Sabbathi continues to evolve as fearless sonic explorers.
Ahead of their upcoming European tour, we spoke with Juan Tamayo (guitar) and Gerardo Arias (drums) from the band about their fascination with space, the conceptual layers behind Intersatelital, and the future of their ever-expanding musical universe.
Interview with Vinnum Sabbathi
Third Eye: Intersatelital draws from a fascinating chapter of Mexican space history. How did you first become inspired by the 1985 Morelos I & II missions and Dr Rodolfo Neri’s spaceflight?
Juan Tamayo: I became aware of it during the pandemic years. I was writing my bachelor’s thesis, and the office where I was doing my research was directly connected with the Mexican Space Agency, so when I started seeing posters about the 35th anniversary of the STS mission, I got pulled more into the whole history behind the Morelos missions and Dr Neri’s work.
Third Eye: What kind of research did you do to bring this concept to life musically?
Juan: As for most of the concepts behind VS, I started watching a lot of documentaries and reading some of the missions’ press releases to get a deeper grasp of the details, and from there the idea of the human-machine relationship came afloat.
At the same time, we were rehearsing some new riff ideas, and at some point, everything came together, so by the time we returned to Europe in 2023, we already had Neri Vela’s song completed.
(Later on, I even got to meet Dr Neri at one of his speeches at a university and got his blessing to use his voice for the song).
Third Eye: The album explores the relationship between humans and machines. How do you see this theme resonating in today’s world of accelerating technology?
Juan: I think every day the machines we create merge a bit more into our daily lives; smartphones are now almost an extension of ourselves and do a lot of our thinking for everyday tasks (AI is getting there too). We’re becoming heavily dependent on the technology available to us and pushing away our face-to-face interactions and the relationship with our surroundings.
But I also think all those tools available to us can be used in a good direction as powerful aids to help expand our knowledge and keep reaching new horizons in our understanding of everything around us.
We’ll see what kind of species we’re heading on to be.
Third Eye: Looking back at your first European tour in 2017, how has the band grown musically and personally since then?
Gerardo Arias: We’ve all grown up in every possible way. Our lives are not the same, and so our influences and music taste. INTERSATELITAL for me is Vinnum Sabbathi’s final morph and music signature that will influence and define future releases as well. I am very happy with the outcome and with the band’s evolution.
Third Eye: You’re gearing up for another European tour this summer. Are there any particular cities or festivals on this tour that you’re especially excited about?
Gerardo: I am excited for every single date of the tour. Doing a European tour to me it also represents meeting close friends that I don’t have the chance to see so often and to play music for them. It is also very exciting to see how Vinnum Sabbathi will share stage with huge names that were heroes to me when I started listening heavy tunes.
Third Eye: How do you plan to translate the cinematic and layered nature of Intersatelital into the live environment?
Juan: Samples are now an essential part of our sound and presentation. We’re very happy to be able to bring some space history from our country out into the world, and especially in our native language for these upcoming shows, even adding some OG space age intros with some Esquivel bits.
Adding to this, whenever it’s possible, we like to pair our live shows with visuals from old documentaries or archives, and even our merch is an extension of what we’re trying to share with every release; mission patches, t-shirts, album covers and overall artwork always tell a bit more of the main story behind the music.
Third Eye: After more than a decade as a band, what keeps Vinnum Sabbathi creatively energized?
Gerardo: Music is an essential and necessary part of my life. The world has been around for nearly 4.5 billion years, and to be alive in such era where you can share a part of you by music is just a golden lucky privilege to me. And to know that your record will be around until man exists no more, is also pretty exciting to me.
Juan: Music has changed my life in many ways, always re-focusing the way I see the world through the places and people I get to know with every tour and every new release we make. That is a constant fuel for me to keep exploring new paths of expression through music.
Also, science and sci-fi just keep giving, it’s a never-ending source of weird and awesome scenarios to get inspired by.
Third Eye: Finally, what’s next after Intersatelital? Are there any future concepts or collaborations on the horizon?
Juan: We have a pending collaboration in the works, hopefully for the near future. Also, a new album is the next thing on the list, hopefully for the 10th anniversary of the first one, but let’s see what life brings for all of us; we might cease to exist tomorrow or get to become a Type I civilization. We’re here for the ride either way.
Check out Intersatelital by Vinnum Sabbathi on Bandcamp here
Vinnum Sabbathi: Bandcamp | Instagram | Facebook
Leave a Reply