Secret Archives of the Vatican are a collective of musicians, based across the UK, but with main recording facilities in Croydon, South London. The band was formed in 1988 by Vince Millett, who was joined in the early 1990s by Louis Counter. They were influenced by the clubs of the Asian Underground scene and also by artists such as Transglobal Underground and Bill Laswell. The third core band member is Peter Sharpe, specialising in UK roots dub reggae. Ginger Shinobi has at various times been the band's manager and on-stage DJ.

The band's music is usually described as Transglobal breakbeat dub science, as it contains elements of many genres: breakbeat, dub, dubstep, drumstep, triphop, drum and bass, Indian, Arabian and Turkish musical forms and much more.