Doomed Confessionary: Juan & Gerardo (Vinnum Sabbathi)
Photo by Paola Baltazar
Vinnum Sabbathi is an instrumental stoner/doom metal band hailing from Mexico City, Mexico. They have just released their new EP »Intersatelital« on June 17th, 2025 via Stolen Body Records (UK), Teschio Dischi (Italy) and LSDR Records (Mexico).
A brand new music from the space cavern for 2025. »Intersatelital« is the new exploration in sound from Vinnum Sabbathi, encompassing the relationship between us humans and the machines we have created to aid in our quest towards the expansion and conquest of space beyond our home planet, taking special focus on a pivotal point in time for Mexico.
Vinnum Sabbathi are Juan Alberto Tamayo (guitar), Samuel García (bass), Roman Tamayo (samples, effects) and Gerardo Arias (drums).
Can you please say a few words about your band?
Juan: Hello, we’re Vinnum Sabbathi, an instrumental band from Mexico, we play slow and heavy riffs mixed with samples from science and sci-fi. We just released a new EP titled »Intersatelital« and we’re about to go to Europe for a small tour to support it.
What was the biggest challenge for the band?
Gerardo: The biggest challenge was (and still is) that we live far away from each other, which makes it difficult for us to get together. Nevertheless, the band itself has developed a very robust sound and that smoothens up our gigs and rehearsals.
What can you be most proud of so far?
Gerardo: Back when I started listening to heavy tunes, Desertfest London was a dream for me, and once it was one of my life goals (just to assist to one of them). I could never imagine that one day I would be playing that festival.
Juan: Definitely playing legendary festivals as Desertfest London, Sonic Blast, Sonic Whip and Astral in UK, and that we’ve been able to do it as an independent band from a small town in Mexico.
What was your biggest regret?
Gerardo: Not buying a Ludwig vistalite when I had the chance to do it.
Juan: Probably selling some of my personal gear to go on tour, but it was worth it 100%.
What was the best concert/tour so far and why?
Gerardo: Sonic Whip was insane. To see all the people that were there to see us was surreal to me.
Juan: Definitely Desertfest London and Sonic Whip the next day, playing with some of our all-time music heroes and to packed venues was just a surreal moment for all of us.
What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
Gerardo: Meeting awesome people that have supported us from the very beginning.
Juan: Just knowing that there’s people in other places that support what we’re doing and being able to meet some of them at shows while on tour is something that I take with me with a lot of sentiment.
What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
Juan: I’ve been listening a LOT of Blood Incantation, Wren and the new Annapura album these days.
What was the best advice you’ve ever been given as a musician?
Gerardo: “If you are doing this for money, then you might be going through the wrong path.”
Juan: Years ago, probably before the first album, someone told me to do as much as possible with the band before life and responsibilities started to kick in, I followed that as much as I could and it really helped, nowadays that we all have jobs and live in different cities it makes a lot of sense.
What are your guilty pleasures?
Gerardo: Huge Lord of the Rings fan.
Juan: Get local bread/food and soda as much as possible while on tour.
Can you say something more about the current music scene in Mexico City / Mexico?
Gerardo: Where I live is a town called ‘CD Guzmán’ in Jalisco. There is a very small scene around, recently I’ve been jammin with two friends some heavy tunes. But that’s about it. I see a lot of potential and probably in the future you will see/hear more (hopefully).
Juan: Mexico City’s underground scene has been thriving for some years now, we now have Doom City Fest which gets together international and local bands, highly recommend friends from all around the country such as Terror Cósmico, Satánico Pandemonium, Satón, Cotton Mouth, Saturno Grooves, Abyssal and Bardo just to name a few.
Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
Juan: We’ll be in Europe this August, specifically Portugal, Spain, Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. In December we’ll be playing the first edition of Ripplefest Mexico in Mexico City.
Europa 2025 Tour:
Aug 09 – Âncora, PT – Sonic Blast Festival
Aug 11 – Madrid, ES – Wurlitzer Ballroom
Aug 12 – Amsterdam, NL – De Tanker In Noord
Aug 13 – Hamburg, DE – Gängeviertel
Aug 14 – Berlin, DE – Neue Zukunft
Aug 15 – Dresden, DE – Chemiefabrik
Aug 16 – Mariental, DE – Hoflärm Festival
Aug 17 – Merelbeke, BE – ‘t Omgekeerde Kruis
What are your plans for the future as a band?
Juan: We want to visit as many places as possible, we hope to be able to play South America and Asia in the near future. Also new music in the oven, some collaborations and a third full-length in the works.
How can people best support your band?
Juan: The best way for all the bands is to go and support live music, attend shows and buy merch if you can. Spread the word and share the music with new people. Also try to help as much as possible to support your local scene, there are a lot of disciplines around music that always need more people such as photo, video, visuals, art, merch, etc.
Do you have any message for your listeners?
Juan: Always, endless thanks for your support to the band all these years, it means a lot!
Hope to meet you soon on a show nearby.
Hail Sagan!
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well