Sonu's Diabetes Secret

US based outfit Sonus Umbra started out as Radio Silence back in the early 1990's, and was founded in Mexico, where they were an active and increasingly popular live unit prior to breaking up in 1994. Shortly after the main members of the band relocated to the US, with a reunion seemingly unlikely. However, when bassist Nasser auditioned to become a member of Baltimore outfit Kurgan's Bane events started unfolding in unexpected ways. While recording the debut album of Kurgan's bane Nasser got to know John Grant, who worked at the studio, and also started discovering the underground progressive rock communities that had formed after the advent of the internet. They started to work on assembling earlier demo material of Radio Silence, and soon after Gomez and Aullet were back and Radio Silence resurrected as a band…

Following in the precedent set by Enigma's remarkable success in the 1990s, Bella Sonus' Enamoured blends together the more ethereal side of computer-composed world music with a heavy dose of ambient electronica, while differentiating themselves from their obvious peer with the guitar work of Angel Suarez. As it did for Enigma and many of the successive artists to follow - Deep Forest, Sarah Brightman, Delirium - this stylistic template works well, evoking a substantial amount of tranquility and a bit of rhythm in the process. The man behind the bulk of the music here, Robert Smith (keyboards, synthesizer, programming, samples), deserves ample recognition for his accomplishments on Enamoured, but one can't help but find it a bit derived. Still, if one can look past this possible observation, the music gleams with a sense of beauty rarely found in modern music.

Sonus Umbra came to life in 1991, formed by a group of physics and math students in Mexico City who drew from their shared love for all things dark, hard rocking and melodic. 30 years later, now based in Chicago and including some of the most accomplished veteran musicians of the Chicago rock music scene, the band continues casting shadows made of sound.
Sonus Umbra has played many progressive rock festivals in North America, including RoSfest, ProgDay, FestivAlterNativo, Progtoberfest and Terra Incognita, toured Mexico and Canada with Discipline, and shared stages along the way with the likes of Spock’s Beard, PFM, Stick Men, Haken, Thank You Scientist, Necromonkey, Deus Ex Machina, Tiles and Glass Hammer…