Bottom Line: Igizeh is Egyptian inspired, and parts of it was recorded at the Great Pyramid. Marks brews a magical blend of of instruments, sound effects, and uplifting chants.

The opening track "Seti I" starts off softly. All you hear at first is a distant voice, like an Islamic call to prayer, and a soft ambient hum. Gradually, very gradually, more instruments join in. Drums, tambourine, keyboards, then a vocal wail. It ramps up slowly building in volume and sophistication of theme until the chant begins. The volume and intensity continues to build and it isn't until five minutes into the song that it finally reaches full bore. Though highly unusual it is very effective. You are by now thoroughly hooked by the driving beat and the stirring group chant and mesmerized by the fluttering about of electronic themes. It is a journey to a distant land where you are sitting in on a tribal song. Though the song is long at well over eight minutes, it still seems too short.

"Obsidian" is great song featuring a fabulous vocal performance by Jennifer Folker. Part torch song part techno dance track, Obsidian has a very catchy tune, impassioned singing and a very dancey beat. The lyrics switch between English and other languages and non-languages, with the key English verse being "visions of yesterday, today." Hopefully some club DJs will pick up on this great song. The song inspired a remix CD.

A male Indian vocalist starts it out "Crème Egg," giving way to an electronic interlude with a speed reminiscent of "Flight of the Bumblebee." The middle section features a south Asian chanter wonderfully mixed with swirling synthesizer, bass, and drums. It concludes again with the original vocalist.

Marks had released an instrumental version of "Glove Puppet" on The Magical Sounds of Banco de Gaia. Here, he adds a stunning emotive vocal by Jennifer Folker, improving an already great song exponentially. The very emotional lyrics are superbly sung by Folker and the electronics and vocals form a deep gothic song.

"Gizeh" is a very odd tune. Vocal samples of strange muffled shouts, the words or even language of which are indecipherable. Synthesized strings provide a Beethovenesque feel. The song is very grand in scope

"How Much Reality Can You Take?" is a sitar song in the tradition of Ananda Shankar. Upbeat from the very first bar, it is a hard driving psychedelic trip. Marks sets down the central sitar theme than plays with variations on it throughout the song, the same approach Orbital uses. Secondary themes from percussion and keyboards call and respond to the sitar. Very fast and energetic, it is impossible to sit still listening to it. It really shows off Mark's composing skill.

"B2" considerably slows down the pace with an ambient-tinged song. Synth and female backing vocals lay down a pleasant groove joined by a woodwind solo (synthesized but sounding most like a flute). Spacey and trippy.

"Fake It Till You Make It" is like a lighter version of Gizeh, with similar samples but more emphasis on the strings. About five minutes in it suddenly shifts into an early 70's funk groove and before you know it you are hearing a Hammond organ jam session. What the . . . . Unexpected but kinda cool, oops, I mean groovy. After the three minute jam session, we return to the earlier theme. At nearly 12 minutes, the song is a bit long for what it has to offer.

"Sixty Sixteen" begins with a church-like organ solo gradually replaced by a steel guitar in turn replaced by synthed strings. It is an atmospheric song gradually picking up the pace then slowing back down again.

In sum, Igizeh is mostly a trippy space album, grandiose in scale, at times reminiscent of Tangerine Dream. Really, the nine tracks are four songs. Tracks 1, 2, 4, and 6 being discrete entities, while the rest are all different expressions of the same basic musical theme. This is not a criticism as it works quite well. But unless that theme grabs you, you will get bored before you get to the end of the album. I think that explains the organ jam mid way through track 8. Still, there is so much to like about this CD. Igizeh definitely establishes Banco de Gaia as one of the foremost world fusion artists.

Background in Banco : I feel deeply moved by Big Men Cry and therefore enjoy that recording the most. Second are the wonderful ambient trips found on Last Train with Magical Sounds' more happy-feeling trippy-ness coming in third. I love the more melancholy / serious sounding Banco rather than the more happy silliness style he sometimes uses ( to great effect though and I say `silliness' in the best possible way... :) . So it's pleasurable to hear Toby Marks returning to that sort of feel with Igizeh. Somewhat at least.

Igizeh is a new sound for Banco and there are some real beauties on here. Some serious some fun and hip with a lot of real sounding instruments layered in to tie it all together. An electronic far eastern feast for the ears.

Seti 1 initially sounds as if came from The Last Temptation of Christ and builds wonderfully into a frantic drum driven trip. Obsidian slowly builds, picks up the pace with its driving bass and introduces a wonderful ethereal vocal flowing perfectly with the music. A great high-energy track. I did not enjoy the remixes on the single. Far too noisy with no subtlety...

Not too keen on the whining of Glove Puppet ( the lyrics are not that inspired ). I much prefer the instrumental found on MS. Also not so keen on hearing the same material again. Would prefer something more fresh for a new album. Gizeh - a nice mellow groove. Fusing that eastern charm with clarinet and strings. And building and building... HMRCYT ? is great head mover. Love this.

B2 is the favorite for me. A relatively slow track with deep bass, punching electric bleeping and unearthly female vocal wisps woven within. A slow mover, groover !

I would enjoy Fake It... a whole lot more if it weren't for the recording. I don't know if it was intentional or not but on the first and last act of this track a high pitch sound is present with just destroys the listen pleasure for me. I found it very off putting anyway. This is a shame as the track just seem so epic. With the middle section just jammin'

Enough rambling. I enjoy Banco's latest but not as much as some earlier albums. No Crying here...still, you have to listen.

I love it! "Igizeh" puts me "into the zone"; what an outstanding piece of work by Banco de Gaia. I found myself enchanted with the opening of the first track, Seti I. Starting with the sounds of birds twittering in the Temple of Seti I at Thebes, layer after rich layer of rhythm, melody and the sounds of Egypt are laid down, building to driving dance beats. It's a three-dimensional feast of music and sound that I can't resist. Even if I am sitting down, my body starts moving to those grooves. Obsidian is just as compelling as Seti I. World fusion and dance beats don't get better than this.

This is an album of sheer genius! From the very first note of the first track, Mr. de Gaia hits us right on the nose. He is truely in a world of his own (maybe shared with Bob Holroyd) when it comes to this euphoric and awe-inspiring music. It seems as though it is the job of Englishmen to bring us this style. Both these two have it mastered. How Banco is still able to shake the goose-bumps out of me is a mystery.

'Obsidian' for me is probably the absolute high-light. Beginning slowly and atmospherically for a couple of minutes before KAPOOW, Banco has suddenly transported you to a state of sheer bliss! Jennifer Folkes' vocals are immense and to the point, stirring every emotion possible, and more. She appears again on track 4, a vocal rendition of 'Glove Puppet' (a remake taken from 1999's album 'The Magical Sounds of'). This song marks a slightly darker aspect to the album, which absorbs you further, before emerging at the other end with the nineth and final track, 'Sixty Sixteen', which again displays the characteristics of 'Obsidian' with its charged build up oozeing with expectance before reaching its cruching and explosive finale. Hearts DO skip beats!

If there was another star on offer to rate this album, Igizeh would have it. 6 out of 5 for Igizeh, you would be mad not to buy it!

The whole theme of this one is "vacation," and Toby Marks did after all record most of the tracks inside various ancient Egyption monuments. Sounds like it, too... there's a general feeling of echoing ancient ambience to this whole disc.

It feels a bit like Marks was in vacation mode when he wrote this, too... it's not as sharp, unique, or original as previous releases, and a couple of the tracks don't really seem to go anywhere or are bogged down in their own reverb.

I give this four stars because it's still Banco and has Banco's stamp of technically mastery and musical intrigue. But never has there been a greater divide between the haves and the have-nots on one of his albums. "Obsidian," for instance, is a marvelous track reminiscent of earlier dancey efforts like "Heliopolis" and "Data Inadequate." "Gizeh," the sort-of title track, takes a while to develop but is a methodical and awe-inspiring journey. And "Sixty Sixteen" and "Creme Egg" display Marks' love of complex and varied beats. Both tracks are excellent.

The rest of them just don't have the same intensity and drive and end up feeling almost irrelevant. This is the least essential album Banco de Gaia has made. It's a tribute to his talent and creativity that it was well worth my money anyway.