Just as Waterbone's album TIBET featured field recordings of native singers from the area, so does ORION PROPHECY draw on indigenous sounds and instrumentation, this time from Egypt. Like TIBET, ORION PROPHECY blends these world music elements with electronic trance and club beats. The album's opener "Hymn to Isis," for example, has a snaking Middle Eastern refrain sung by a female vocalist over a fat, down-tempo thump and rolling bass line. "Vision of Maati" is a funky, layered dance track that contains what could be a prayer call (if the minaret was placed in the middle of a rave).
Interestingly, the cross-section of the two different styles sustains the strength of each. The excellent programming, beat-shuffling, and production win the album points in the electronica camp, while the Egyptian instruments, melodic motifs, and vocals lose none of their exotic, evocative, or human qualities for being mixed with technology. The result is seductive, insistent music that should appeal to fans of various stripes and provide a high-impact listening experience that is groove-oriented, stylish, and mesmerizing.