Today, Vinnum Sabbathi release Live at Doom City Fest 2025 on vinyl through Interstellar Smoke Records, capturing their set last May at the Mexico City-based festival. A full set video premieres below.
That’s the story of it, largely. It’s a pro-shot, multi-cam, almost-41-minute set, presented in full with all three tracks from last year’s Intersatelital EP (review here) as well as “In Search of M-Theory” from 2020’s Of Dimensions and Theories (review here) and “Gravity Waves” from their 2017 debut, Gravity Works (review here). Looks and sounds killer. The generally-space-themed instrumentalists crush it — obviously, or it probably wouldn’t be coming out — and in closer “Rodolfo Neri Vela” (named for Mexico’s first astronaut), the atmosphere and the raw tonal impact come together in a righteous build, bass punching, drums crashing, guitars skronking out noise with samples overtop. There is rare depth and immersion for a live performance, and clearly in their element, the band bring that song and the show to a rousing payoff.
For somebody like me, who hasn’t had the pleasure of seeing the band live (I’ll add ‘yet’ because I’ve learned the fun way to never say never as regards seeing bands), Live at Doom City Fest 2025 marks their first official from-a-show live release. They’ve done studio sessions and such before, but as the intro “Centro de Control Espacial” brings them into the hypnotic unfolding of “Sistema de Satélites Morelos,” again with samples running where vocals might otherwise be, telling a story about themselves within and around the music, the buildup feels thoughtful, stately almost, and when the Big Riff lands, it does so with intent that speaks to Vinnum Sabbathi‘s 15-ish years developing and mastering their approach, expanding as though fueled by dark energy into a heavy cosmos that’s as open as you’re willing to let it be. The newer material is more dynamic, as will happen, but that only makes it rest well alongside a piece like “Gravity Waves,” which surely LIGO must have detected when they played it during the set. Possibly the only band I know of who should put a laser interferometer on their rider.
Vinnum Sabbathi are slated to appear at Candelabrum Metal Fest V in León, Guanajuato, this September, alongside a range of celebrants that includes Bloodbath, The Haunted, Warning, …And Oceans, and Solitude Aeturnus. Good bill. There’s recordings underway for a rad split still officially to be announced and more writing for a next LP. And presumably, more shows. They were in Europe in 2025, as noted, for the release of Intersatelital. A full-length follow-up to Of Dimensions and Theories will be welcome whenever it might arrive, but in the meantime, the argument here for catching Vinnum Sabbathi where and when you can is unignorable. May we all get the chance one of these days.
Enjoy the clip. A quick quote from the band and the video credits follow:
Vinnum Sabbathi, Live at Doom City Fest 2025 full set video premiere
Vinnum Sabbathi on Live at Doom City Fest 2025:
Right before going overseas for our 3rd European tour last year, we got to play one of our most memorable shows in Mexico at Doom City Festival, which is slowly becoming a staple of heavy music for our country.
We were very fortunate to be able to capture the raw essence of the band but also the huge energy of that packed room.
Now, in collaboration with Interstellar Smoke Records from Poland, we’re bringing this unique experience to a limited vinyl format and, as all our music, the digital version available as Name Your Price on Bandcamp.
Our deepest gratitude goes to all the people who support the underground with their work on photo, video, artwork, production, merch & more, and those who we’ve been fortunate enough to collaborate with across 14 years as a band. Kudos to all the lovely people that attended the festival to support live music, you made this one for the books.
Tracklisting: 0:14 Centro de Control Espacial 02:00 Sistema de Satélites Morelos 08:23 In Search of M-Theory 18:30 Gravity Waves 28:05 Rodolfo Neri Vela
Live at Doom City. Recorded at Sangriento, Mexico City on May 24th 2025.
Credits: Recorded and mixed by Roberto de la Peña. Mastered by Victor “KB” Velazquez at Testa Estudio. Cover photo by Jaime Fernandez. Show photos by Paola Baltazar. Video by Fabian Rodriguez and Eduardo Sandoval.
Posted in Reviews on October 7th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
It hasn’t exactly been graceful so far, this Quarterly Review, but it’s gotten to where it’s needed to go across a tumultuous first two days, and I’ll take that as a positive sign of things to come. We’re in the thick of it now, with day three, and it’s a good day to dig in, so I won’t delay further except to say I hope you find something in here that you enjoy.
Quarterly Review #21-30:
Vinnum Sabbathi, Intersatelital
Mexico City instrumentalists Vinnum Sabbathi have been plenty busy in the five years since their 2020 split with Comacozer (review here), whether it was collaborating with Rezn, touring multiple times in Europe, putting out a live record, etc., but the three-song Intersatelital EP is a welcome standalone studio return for the band just the same. Issued to coincide with their Summer ’25 Euro run, the 19-minute outing basks in 20th Century-era space exploration, with Spanish-language samples recounting the launch of early communications satellites for a kind of positive-future manifestation as the intro “Centro de Control Especial” flows into “Sistema de Satelites Morelos” and the 11-minute finale “Rodolfo Neri Vela,” which is both heavy enough to pay off the entire procession of the release and intense enough to convey escape velocity. The short version: Vinnum Sabbathi deliver again.
Past the medically-noisy intro “Flatline,” Crop‘s S.S.R.I. — the Lexington, Kentucky, sludgers’ second LP, named for the class of antidepressants — builds a massive wall of harsh-shout-topped sludge metal with “Formaldehyde,” big tones and big riffs resulting in big impact. Nothing to complain about, and I’m not complaining, but neither is that all they have to offer. A midsection break with vocals that if you come back in a decade will probably be clean hints at complexity in the composition, and sure enough, even the lumbering largesse of “Godamn” or the closer “Break” give hints of melody somewhere (the latter also some double-kick), and by the time they get to “10-56,” they’ve established their context enough that the dynamic will be apparent for those willing to hear it. That makes “Alone” less of a surprise with a more progressive reachout in its second half, followed by the echoing guitar interlude “Breath,” after which “Break” buries itself and everything else in lurching distortion and takes just a quick breather before the last and most vicious onslaught. They sound like they’re on a path of growth, but to be sure they’re also flattening everything on that same path.
Bloodsports are no more beholden to the post-grunge melancholy of “Rosary” than the outright crush of “Rot” just before or the willfully choppy succession of “Trio 1” and “Trio 2” that open its respective sides or the penultimate strum and cello of “A River Runs Through,” and their first album, Anything Can Be a Hammer envisions an intimate volatility. “Come, Dog” and the daringly straight-ahead “Calvin” find the Brooklynite four-piece (maybe sometimes a trio?) casting their lot with individual perspective almost as a side-effect of the personal expression the nine component tracks seem to convey, but also rock, and while at full-bore, the six-minute closing title-track is a forceful push revealing a prog-hardcore metal (Converge, Oathbreaker) influence somewhere in the band that provides a roiling payoff. It gets chaotic and they let it, so bonus points for all that noise. A lot will depend on whether or not they tour, but there’s a take developing in Bloodsports‘ sound that isn’t like much else out there. If they can hit it hard and tour, the potential is there to be realized.
Swedish heavy progressive psychedelic rockers Eyes of the Oak follow 2024’s sophomore LP, Neolithic Flint Dagger (review here), with the three-tracker Tripping Through Neon Skies, which pairs two originals in “Temple of Hallucinations” (5:08) and “Hitchhiking From the Mescaline Moon” (11:49), the latter drifting into a cosmically declarative crescendo that calls to mind Samsara Blues Experiment in its sweep, with a duly spaced-out take on AC/DC‘s “Hell’s Bells” that admirably balances loyalty to the original (why else would you cover it?) with the band’s will to make it their own in melody and reach. “Hitchhiking From the Mescaline Moon” is more of a voyage, of course, but “Temple of Hallucinations” casts itself out in vivid colors with a proggy hook and swells of vocal melody that add a light, not-unwelcome touch of the grandiose. It’s a big sound, and a big universe, and with these songs, Eyes of the Oak continue to carve out their place in it.
So here’s my story. Not knowing much about Virginia’s Pygmy Lush beyond their being well recommended and sharing members with Pageninetynine, I showed up to their set at this year’s Roadburn Festival, and found their punk-rooted, sometimes-loud Americana engaging enough that I knew I wanted to check out their first album in 14 years, Totem. Year goes on, blah blah, summer, blah blah everything is terrible, and I finally get around to the album and Totem blindsides with a post-hardcore swing and angularity, somewhat thinky-thinky-smart-dude in pieces like “Algorithmic Mercy (Prayers Printed Directly Into a Shredder),” and unhinged in the general impression in that way that sounds like it’s about to trip over itself the whole time but never actually does. Kind of a surprise, but it’s done well and I ain’t mad about it. I’m sure there’s a narrative to the whole thing that’s been rephrased however many times over by critics more erudite than I could or would ever be, or maybe the band is just dynamic (gasp!). They quiet down for “Nonsensical Whisper” at the end, too, so it’s not all shove, even if that does define the record in large part.
The second album from Berlin’s Sheev, Ate’s Alchemist, purports a theme of dark emotions and their ethereal origins, and I’m not entirely sure how that translates into the odd-timed chuggery that bookends “Elephant Trunk,” but the progressive metal/rockers make a showcase of scope across the eight cuts/49 minutes of the album, veering into and out of various microgenres, whether it’s the doomly overtone of “Cul de Sac” or the imagine-thrash-but-soaring of “Martef” after the intro “The Alchemist.” Clearly a band who’ve worked on their sound, who believe in what they do, and who have paid attention in class when it comes to fostering a unified feel across disparate sounds. There’s nowhere the album goes that finds Sheev out of place, and while the level of engagement for a given listener will depend on their ability to meet the band where they’re at, the arguments for doing so are myriad. There are about eight of them, actually. Funny how that’s the same number of songs included, right? Stick around for the mathy wash at the end of “Sabress.”
I mean, you might think you’re ready for what’s coming on Lähdön Aika‘s fourth full-length, Mustalle Maalle, but you’re probably wrong about that. Just because they’ve been a band for over 20 years doesn’t mean the atmospheric post-sludge extremists can’t still bash your skull with the throatripper-topped jabs of “Et enää mitään” or the speedy crusher “Paina pääsi alas” later on, the rawness of the vocals only one example of the levels on which the Finnish outfit make their sound an assault. As they make their way toward the 10-minute capper “Ihmishaketta,” “Teuraaksi Kastettu” delves into a post-metal that makes Amenra sound like Oasis and the lumber of “Viilto” becomes a downward march only after it’s already lowered the whole quarry onto your person. Physical oppression through music, is what I’m talking about. A grim world awaits you if you think you can handle it, but again, these guys are experienced. They know what they’re doing as they bask in the wanton slaughter of “Ikeestä.” It’s not an accident. There’s method to it. That makes the album feel even more dangerous.
Some of the early vibes on “Beam” or “Stonewall Angel” on Fuzz Thrower‘s self-titled debut — on CD thanks to Off the Record Label imprint, PowerWax Records — remind of Sungrazer‘s mellow heavy psych circa 15 years ago, and certainly the drifty interlude “Waves” backs that up, but Netherlands-based multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Tjeerd de Jong (also of Phantom Druid) grunges out in the march of “Nowhere,” gets more Sabbath-doomed for “Drooler” and the penultimate “Pictures of the Moon,” hints toward goth metal in “Ocean in the Sky,” and rounds out the nodder riffing of “Soon We Roam” with a sampled poetry reading, so no, things are not so easily accounted for in a single comparison point. So much the better. Across the album’s 29 minutes, de Jong presents a strong sense of trying out ideas — the way the vocals rest on top of “The End is Open,” for example — that might bring progression to subsequent releases, but there’s already depth to spare in the songwriting of this first outing. If/when he buys a keyboard, watch out.
It’s a secondary element, but don’t discount the synth work of drummer Daniel Figueroa on Moths‘ Septem EP, and if you’d like an example of why, check out “Pride.” The seven-track/26-minute offering takes each of its titles from the alleged seven deadly sins, with a full prog-metal brunt behind vocalist Mariel Viruet‘s noteworthy, growl-inclusive range as a singer. Guitarists Omar González (rhythm) and Jonathan Miranda (lead), bassist Weslie Negrón and Figueroa vary tempo and aggression to suit a given mood, and the keys are a bigger part of that than they might at first seem. Don’t tell the guitarists. The affect is definitely metal in pieces like “Gluttony” and “Greed,” while “Lust” lets the bass lead the groove, and “Wrath” — as good a place to end as any — pushes deeper into poised extremity with a blasting finish, the overarching density calling for nothing so much as repeat listens.
Pairing aggro, low-throat growl sludge with jammier takes, psychedelia, proggy riffing and a resolution in Iommic swing, the 28-minute “Subherbia” from Greenhead‘s debut album of the same name encapsulates on its own the kind of range one might expect (hope) for from a newcomer band, but the Washington D.C. trio don’t end there. Side B brings “Indigo,” “All Seeing Eye,” “Nature’s Pyramid” and “Purple God,” riding the blurred line between modern stoner largesse and classic doom riffing cohesively, letting “Nature’s Pyramid” punk up its chorus a bit as a precursor to the gang shouts of “Purple God.” I don’t know what genre you call it and I don’t care. I’m just happy to hear a new band mashing styles together to see what sticks and coming out it with a first LP that practically smacks you in the face with its ambition. What comes of it or doesn’t, whatever. I’ll take Subherbia as-is, thanks, and hope I’m lucky enough to see them do it live at some point.
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 9th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Ripplefest Mexico coming in hot with an inaugural lineup or this Dec. 6 and a bitchin’ three-eyed axolotl on the poster that puts me in mind of classic Simpsons with the triocular fish, but, you know, is a little more this-century. The Well will make their way south to Mexico City to headline the first Ripplefest Mexico, and they’ll be joined by long-running Chilean groovers Demonauta, who I got to see last year (review here) and could only recommend as an experience, as well as Vinnum Sabbathi, Demons My Friends, SaturnoGrooves, Black Overdrive and King in Yellow, plus Lord Velvet from Colorado and Transit Method, also from Austin. Solid bill. Get there early. King in Yellow sound pretty cool.
I don’t know much about the Fuck Off Room, but I do enjoy a good bit of fucking off, so right on. You might recall the Doom City Fest that took place in Mexico City the last few years as well. It will be cool to see how both continue to grow.
Heavy rock festival Ripplefest México announce the full lineup for their first-ever edition taking place on December 6th, 2025 at Fuck Off Room in Mexico City. Tickets are on sale now!
Born from the success of Ripplefest Texas — the largest stoner and doom festival in the U.S., backed by legendary label Ripple Music — Ripplefest has expanded globally with celebrated editions in France (Nantes) and Germany. Now, México joins the movement, uniting local and international stoner rock and doom communities under one roof: Mexico City’s renowned FuckOff Room, located inside the popular Condesa neighborhood.
With a total of nine bands gracing the bill, Ripplefest México will showcase a powerful mix of established and emerging acts from the global heavy rock scene, delivering the raw energy and immersive experience that defines the Ripplefest brand.
About launching Ripplefest México, the promoters say: “We’re excited to embark on this new adventure to continue strengthening the Mexican stoner scene and bridge a connection with the US stoner community as well, by establishing a Mexican chapter to the largest stoner and doom festival in the United States, Ripplefest Texas. Ripplefest México will emulate the spirit and replicate the experience of all previous Ripplefests by presenting a lineup that is attractive and interesting to heavy music lovers in our city, and by being curated and organized by music lovers and musicians from our scene itself. We hope you can join us, and thank you in advance for your support. Everyone is invited.”
Lineup:
The Well (Austin, TX) Demonauta (Santiago, Chile) Demons My Friends (Austin, TX / Mexico City, Mexico) Lord Velvet (Denver, CO) Transit Method (Austin, TX) Vinnum Sabbathi (Mexico City) Saturno Grooves (Durango, MX) Black Overdrive (Mexico City, MX) King In Yellow (Tamaulipas, MX)
Posted in Whathaveyou on May 26th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
We — you and I; if ever homies was homies — already knew that Mexico City instrumentalist space-themed riffcrunchers Vinnum Sabbathi were headed back to Europe this coming summer. Not at all their first time doing the dance, and they’ll hit SonicBlast in Portugal and Hoflärm in Germany on their way, along with a week-plus of club shows. When the tour was announced, I’m pretty sure they said a new release was coming though, and Intersatelital is that.
A new EP following up on their 2023 collab LP with Rezn, Silent Future (discussed here), Intersatelital will be Vinnum Sabbathi‘s first standalone studio work since Of Dimensions and Theories (review here), which was released roughly concurrent to a split with Comacozer (review here) in 2020. Five years, but of course they’ve been plenty busy in the interim.
To wit, this past weekend was the Doom City Fest in Mexico City, which Vinnum Sabbathi played and in which members of the band are involved. They shared the stage with Conan, Dopethrone and Bongzilla, among others.
From social media (plus the tour dates from last time again):
“Intersatelital” is the new EP from Vinnum Sabbathi, a sonic testament of the intricate human-machine comradeship from the last century, featuring an incredible cover artwork by Indonesian artist Yasinviolet.
A collaboration between Stolen Body Records 🇬🇧 and Teschio Dischi 🇮🇹 for vinyl and cassette physical formats.
Official release date on June 17th 2025, to commemorate 40 years of missions STS-51-G as well as STS-61-B, launching the Morelos communications satellites in orbit and the first Mexican astronaut, Rodolfo Neri Vela 🇲🇽.
Pre orders coming soon.
EUROPA 2025 09 AUG SonicBlast Fest (ANCORA, PT) 11 AUG Wurlitzer Ballroom (MADRID, ES) 12 AUG De Tanker In Noord (AMST, NL) 13 AUG TBA (HAMBURG, DE) 14 AUG Neue Zukunft (BERLIN, DE) 15 AUG Chemiefabrik Dresden (Chemo) (DE) 16 AUG Heinzelmännchen Hofcafe & Hoflärm (DE) 17 AUG TBA (GHENT, BE)
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 1st, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Nothing here but good news as instrumentalist Mexico City scene spearheads Vinnum Sabbathi will head back to Europe this August for slated appearances at SonicBlast Fest in Portugal and Hoflärm in Germany. As will happen, those two appearances on successive weekends will be drawn together by club shows throughout Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and in Belgium, where the tour is slated to end in Ghent for a show that’s waiting for confirmation. Not that Hoflärm would be a bad way to go as regards ending the tour, but if you can help out either there or Aug. 13, do.
Studio-wise, the band collaborated with Chicago headpsych forerunners Rezn in 2023 on the PostWax release Silent Future (discussed here). I haven’t heard word of a new full-length, but in announcing the tour below, the band cite an upcoming EP that they’ll have with them on the road. Something to look forward to whether you’ll see them on this tour or not.
And while we’re here, let’s not forget the Doom City Fest in Mexico City this May (info here) that the band will play a role in hosting as well as performing. Looks like they’re set up for a pretty good year.
From social media:
VINNUM SABBATHI – EUROPA 2025 🌍
We’re very excited to share the poster for our 3rd visit to the old continent, this time is going to be short but packed, as it includes our return to Portugal for SonicBlast Fest , our first time playing Heinzelmännchen Hofcafe & Hoflärm and it’ll be also our first time playing in Spain.
And for this we’ll bring a brand new EP with us (more info very soon!), we have new merch on pre-order so if you can/want to support us on this mission please grab anything on our BC: https://vinnumsabbathi.bandcamp.com/merch
We hope to see you in a show nearby, so save the dates!
(We’ll update the pending info as soon as we can).
09 AUG – Ancora SonicBlast Fest 11 AUG – Madrid @ Wurlitzer Ballroom 12 AUG – Amsterdam De Tanker In Noord 13 AUG – TBC 14 AUG – Berlin Neue Zukunft 15 AUG – Dresden Chemiefabrik Dresden (Chemo) 16 AUG – Marienthal Heinzelmännchen Hofcafe & Hoflärm 17 AUG – Ghent TBC
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 3rd, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Topped off with Bongzilla and Conan, you wouldn’t accuse the lineup of Doom City Fest 2025 of not getting its point across in saying, “hi this year’s gonna be really frickin’ heavy.” And so it will, with Dopethrone backing those two weighty names — the former legends in the field of crusty stoner ultrasludge, the latter a singularly flattening entity in decpitation-prone doom charge — with their signature gritty sludge extremity, as long-running death-doomers Majestic Downfall from Santiago de Querétaro, Monterrey’s Black Glow, Mexico City’s Oculto and the fest-associated Vinnum Sabbathi (the latter also touring Europe this summer) give representation to the domestic Mexican underground, Black Tusk like Bongzilla are imported from Mexico’s increasingly embarrassing northern neighbors, while Bitterdusk journey north from Chile to take part in the all-dayer set for May 24.
There’s a bit of variety in terms of sound between the bands, but what it all rounds out to is the initial proposition: heft. These acts are united by a love and worship of capital ‘r’ Riffing, and as Mexico City’s heavy scene continues to flourish, Doom City provides a showcase for some of that and what looks like a killer day besides. The poster and full lineup announcement came through social media as follows:
💀 DOOM CITY FEST 2025 💀 We present you the lineup of the third edition of the thickest, loudest and highest voltage festival in the CDMX:
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 25th, 2025 by JJ Koczan
Dayum. SonicBlast Fest came out hard with its first lineup announcement and things have only gotten more heartstirring since then. In a new round of 13 lineup adds, they bring King Woman, Messa, Monolord, King Buffalo, The Atomic Bitchwax, Daily Thompson, Vinnum Sabbathi, Castle Rat, Tō Yō, Witchthroat Serpent and more to the bill, and when you look at the rest of the poster and see Fu Manchu, My Sleeping Karma, Earthless, Slomosa, Gnoma, Daevar, Amenra, Emma Ruth Rundle and so on, yeah, fair to call it compelling, not that “weekend on the beach in Portugal” should be a hard sell on its own either.
And while you’re looking at the poster below, surely you’ll also note the part where it says there’s more to come. I don’t know that that’ll be another full round of 13 bands, but honestly, SonicBlast is always packed, so anything’s possible. I was there in 2023 and it was awesome. Great place, nice people, and I learned how to order espresso in Portuguese, which was a bonus. If you can get there, you should take a look, is all I’m saying. I even left the emojis intact.
The following comes from socials:
13 is the magic number 🔥🔥
We’re so thrilled to confirm 13 new bands for the great reunion of weight and psychedia that will once again – for the 13th time! – take place in August, on the already mythical Duna dos Caldeirões beach ⚡️🔥
King Woman, Monolord, Chalk, Ditz, King Buffalo, Messa, Castle Rat, Dead Ghosts, The Atomic Bitchwax, Witchthroat Serpent, Vinnum Sabbathi, Tō Yō, Daily Thompson will join us at our wild party ⚡️
King Woman Monolord Chalk Ditz King Buffalo Messa Castle Rat Dead Ghosts The Atomic Bitchwax Witchthroat Serpent Vinnum Sabbathi Tō Yō Daily Thompson
Tickets are already available at BOL and Masqueticket (links in bio)
If you’re in Portugal you can also buy your ticket at Fnac, Worten and Ctt stores
Posted in Bootleg Theater on December 22nd, 2023 by JJ Koczan
This was a PostWax release. The vinyl subscription service put forth by Blues Funeral Recordings has produced a string of stellar, genuinely special records in its second volume — Acid King were my pick for album of the year this year, and Dozer and Dopelord, which were in my top 10, both came out in PostWax editions; deluxe vinyl, exclusive tracks, artwork and layout that’s so gorgeous I don’t even want to touch it with my greasy fingers, etc. — and as with all of them, I was fortunate enough to do liner notes for this special collaboration between Chicago fog rockers REZN and Mexico City conceptual plodders Vinnum Sabbathi, titled Silent Future.
I always feel a little weird when it comes to covering PostWax stuff here on the site, and that’s precisely because I also work behind the scenes (in a limited but capacity, of course) on the releases as well, and I was compensated monetarily for doing that writing. I say so every time, but even with full disclosure I’m not trying to give an impression I’m doing promo. It’s not my job to sell you records. But the stuff is undeniable at this point, and what, I’m going to let 2023 end without talking about the exploratory textures of Silent Future, the album’s narrative foundation and the meld of climate anxiety, cosmic pulse and futurism that makes it such a hypnotically immersive listening experience? Come on.
REZN also had their fourth long-player, Solace (review here), out this year, but Silent Future is its own thing and has its own intention. For the four-piece of guitarist/vocalist Rob McWilliams (also lyrics), synthesist/saxophonist/flutist Spencer Ouellette, bassist Phil Cangelosi and drummer Patrick Dunn (who also had the monumental task of mixing), it was a self-recorded affair, done late in 2021 DIY in their own spot, and their basic tracks were sent to Vinnum Sabbathi — the lineup of guitarist/synthesist Juan Tamayo, effects specialist Roman Tamayo, bassist Samuel Lopez and Gerardo Arias on drums and lead guitar, with more guitar from Victor “KB” Velazquez — who also wrote the script for the storytelling monologue in intro “Born into Catatonia” and the likewise keyboardy side B complement, “Clusters,” delivered by the voice of Manuel Wohlrab, also of Yanos and Zone Six in Germany.
So, multinational, multicontinental collaboration across seven songs and a somehow-digestible 32 minutes of progressive, soulful, and at times very, very heavy music. While the record is patient in the subdued flow it sets up as “Born into Catatonia” shifts into “Unknown Ancestor” (the continuing monologue also helps), the sense of texture is immediate and is a luminescent drone that hints at a feeling of discovery. On some level, that’s what’s happening throughout Silent Future as Vinnum Sabbathi and REZN reveal to themselves and to their respective audiences alike — and let’s assume there’s crossover there, because genre — what happens when they fuse their methodologies. I talked to both bands about this release (granted it was a while ago) to do the liner notes, and I’m still not sure anyone knew going into it what would come out, or how they possibly could, but that adventurous spirit is to be commended and I honestly believe the world is a better place with the crushing roll that emerges in “Unknown Ancestor” than without it, never mind the rest of the slow-swirling and entrancing sway that surrounds, periodically channeling high impact in low gravity.
If you’re a synthesist or keyboardist in a heavy band, there’s plenty to learn here in the work of Ouellette and the Tamayo brothers (who I met this year in Germany and are sweethearts), from the New Age-y throb in behind the deceptively catchy hook of “The Cultigen” meditating lyrically as it does on a black chrysanthemum before the lumber-chuck of centerpiece “Hypersurreal” brings back Wohlrab with talk about multisensory alien contact and a verse that’s quiet but tense in its rhythm in no small part because of the riff that just receded. It comes back, that riff, of course, as McWilliams swaps to a more projected voice for another memorable, this-time-belted-out chorus, “Parallel universe/Parallel universe/The eye reflects itself/Into another realm/Am I the writer or the character?” before the verse repeats in a building cycle.
And when that cycle hits its payoff, the synth/effects are right there as well, and so even at its apex-heaviest, Silent Future remains true to its mood. “Clusters” fades in from silence as a reset, but both “Morphing” and the finale “Obliterating Mists” dig into the procession, and whether or not it was intentional, the two become a representative mini-monolith for the LP as a whole, with earworms revealed through multiple visits to their temporal dimension and a culmination in the latter that rises and ebbs with a fluidity and poise that emphasizes the consciousness at the center of the haze. There’s an episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series where the cartoon-Enterprise gets trapped in a giant thinking cloud. Listening to Silent Future kind of feels like that, or at least one imagines.
But either angle you want to take it from — whether it’s the creative bravery and ego-eschew of the collaboration in the first place or the righteousness of the end result in the material itself — Silent Futureis a standout release for 2023 (and beyond) and I didn’t want to let the year end without some proper recognition of that. It’s not the kind of offering every band or pairing of bands could make, and it’s not a pairing that is immediately intuitive because Vinnum Sabbathi and REZN have so much in common in sound, but what they do share is an openness to new ideas and ways of working, and the success of that in these songs I think is inarguable once you hear it.
Which I hope you do. Thanks for reading, and thanks to Jadd Shickler of Blues Funeral, Magnetic Eye Records, for making me a footnote part of the PostWax thing in the first place. Dude had the year of a lifetime between those two labels, and it was only because he made it happen.
Please enjoy, and once again, thank you for reading. I appreciate your time and attention. If you can go with this one, do. I admit it’s not the most intuitive of releases, but that’s also part of what makes it special. Might take a couple listens to sink in, but trust, and let it do its thing, and you’ll be set. Safe travels, wherever it takes you.
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Monday is Xmas. Happy Xmas if you celebrate. We do, in our pointedly secular fashion, and accordingly I’m taking Monday (which is the weekend’s writing) and Tuesday (which is Monday’s writing) off. I’m going to do my damnedest not to post at all in that time, but if there’s something I feel warrants immediacy — and anything can happen, of course — I’ll roll with it. Let us not forget that Lemmy was born on Dec. 24, died Dec. 27 and that he, more than the favorite fanfic of hateful/genocidal psychopaths and state-sponsored rape cabals, is the true reason for the season.
When I pick up Wednesday, it’ll probably also be pretty mellow. The Pecan is off from school next week and I’m sure that’ll be busy because, well, yes. We’re about to undertake the process of remaking bedtime — current system’s effectiveness has expired; a necessary pivot — and I expect that will result in a few bumpy nights. Almost always the case when transitioning from one thing to the other. Certainly was the story of my summer and fall.
To that. While I am not thrilled to know that my six-year-old goes to school every day on medication, I cannot deny the clear shift said meds have wrought in her day-to-day. I would not call her ‘easy’ or ‘easygoing’ as a personality-type — there is much she has learned from me, including how to be a prick, and there are times where she’s a few grades ahead of kindergarten in that regard — but from what I think everybody who observes her has seen, and that’s the rest of our family, her teacher, aide, other aide at school and therapist, we’ve had movement in a better direction. Between the wreck that was this summer’s kicked-out-of-camp marathon, the stress of her transition (which also has allowed a flourishing not to be denied; I’ve heard reports of another trans kindergartener on the planet, but The Patient Mrs. and I are already joking about the book we’ll write some day), and getting her to a point of being able to get through a school day without hurting someone else or herself is progress visible even in the trenches. By which I mean her mother and I can see it. She remains willful, just flat out ignores me when I ask her to do something most of the time and is ready with an argument for why one should fuck off on a daily if not hourly basis — less when she’s hungry — but she’s growing and she’s strong, which is a thing she is going to very much need to be.
That progress doesn’t mean I didn’t basically chase her back to bed at 10PM last night, but as I said, different methods are being put in place. She might get to sleep with the puppy. We’ll see. The Patient Mrs. is the spearhead of that project; I’ll confess reticence and a general lack of desire to clean up dog piss in my kid’s bed, on her floor, or really anywhere else. We’ve got a good thing going with the crate at night, and the dog is only six months old. I could go on and logic logic logic myself through this. Build reasoned arguments to never say out loud. Lay out a grand case. Clutch once told us “you can’t stop progress,” and so here I am, rolling with it to the limited extent I am able, even as my brain has that catch-fire feeling thinking about getting up at 5AM or earlier, going upstairs to get the dog out of her room, waking her up and then having to both deal with the dog needing to go out and the kid who just might want to tag along with as little light on as possible, as quiet as possible, and then try to sit down and write. A million ways to go wrong, fewer to go right.
Whatever you’re feeling anxious about, I wish you relief. I hope you have a great and safe weekend, and I’ll be back on Wednesday (I can hold off! I can do it!) with maybe a Dr. Space review or something else fun and more of the ol’ blah blah blah. Thanks for reading it.
