|
Released December 7th 2007
LMC222
EAN6419922002223
Michael
Harris is one of the most acclaimed instrumental guitarists
going thanks to a number of solo releases over the last 2
decades and his current prog metal band Thought Chamber.
His 2006 Lion Music release “Orchestrate” received scorching
reviews from media worldwide, so why has Michael decided to
re-release his 1996 work “Ego Decimation
Profile”
First
of all, this release is a remixed, re-mastered, and repackaged
version. Michael remixed and re-mastered the CD myself.
On the remix and remastering Michael states, “EDP
originally came out in the 90s, when a drier mix was in vogue,
so one of my goals in remixing the record was to get a more
ambient sound overall, (especially on the lead guitars and
drums). My goals were also to get a better drum tone, to get a
“rounder” sound overall, and to use the stereo field a bit
more with things like stereo delays and panning”.
Stylistically,
“EDP” is a combination of metal, prog, funk, groove, and jazz
fusion and is considered Harris’ heaviest instrumental disc to
date, as there is a running “metal” influence in all of the
songs, although it does contain 3 of Michael’s personal
favourite slower numbers in “Grandscape”, “Pawn to King
IV”, and “Terminus Epic”. Melody and composition was Michael’s
primary focus on the CD. As progressive as it gets at times,
Harris tried to never go too over the top with flashy solos or
intricate parts. The album was also an open invitation to
great musicianship from the other players and to achieve that
many of the tracks were purposely composed with sections that
had trade-offs.
On
Michael’s aim with the album he states, “It was to blend
rock, prog, jazz fusion, groove, funk, and neo classical all
with melody and lots of guitar. Other than the opening piece,
“Forewarning”, there are not a lot of keyboards on the record.
My goal on any of my instrumental records is that the
compositions are strong, the melodies are original and
memorable, and that I’m not just showing how many notes I can
play on guitar”.
MICHAEL'S TRACK BY
TRACK ANALYSIS
01)
Forewarning –
“Forewarning” was a compositional turning point for me. I
envisioned composing a very heavy, progressive, and
orchestrated piece, which I achieved with “FW”, and I consider
it my first “mini-symphony”. Rob Stankiewicz played a great
drum track and I played all the other instruments. For this
remixed version, I actually re-recorded the steel string
acoustic guitar intro with a nylon string. This was the only
part on the whole record that I re-recorded.
02)
Vicious
Uppercut – Being heavy and fast with progressive
touches, “Vicious” felt like a good follow up to “Forewarning”
and set the tone for the disc.
03)
Stratus-Fear –
The theme to this piece was the chorus, which was based on a
G#-E riff that I’d had sitting around for awhile which really
blossomed when I thought of the melody on top of it. Then I
wrote the progressive middle section which has a triplet
feel.
04)
Julius
Seizure – Even before “Defense Mechanizms”, I’d had
a vision of fusing metal with jazz (my father being a jazz
musician), and “Julius” really typified what I was trying to
achieve. I also wanted to include a clean jazz break in a
heavy tune, and patiently waited for the right inspiration for
such a break to be included in this piece. Keith Carlock just
smoked on this one. Although at the time he was relatively
unknown, I’d recruited him based on his great reputation. As
amazing as he was even back then, I don’t think anyone could
have predicted the success his future would bring. He
eventually moved to NY and has since played with John
Scofield, Steely Dan, and Sting.
05)
Pawn to King
IV – Based on counterpoint-esque and
classical-esque melodies achieved with all volume swells, I
haven’t done a piece like this before or since. I’d had a demo
stashed away for quite some time, so I refined it a bit, and
it ended up being a nice dynamic for the record.
06)
Grandscape – This
sounded very soundtrack-esque – the melodies, feel, and lead
guitar tone were most important to me. It’s relatively simple
and one of my favourites on the record.
07)
Hair On the E
String – This title is a take off of Bach’s “Air On
the G String”. The song is not neo-classical however, but
metal-esque with a main theme that is in lydian mode and a
progressive midsection with great drumming from
Rob.
08)
Freudian
Trip – I’ve enjoyed playing funk for years, and I’d
consider “Freudian” to be a metal funk tune. Keith and David
were right at home on this one and it was just plain fun.
9)
Brainwarp:
The heaviest tune on the record. I knew it would be perfect
for Matt Thompson on drums. My middle solo starts with one of
my favourite and most insane licks.
10)
Terminus
Epic:
Definitely one of my faves on the record. I spent a lot of
time arranging it. For quite awhile, I had wanted to compose a
rapid solo or break that was all natural harmonics, which I
did in this midsection, kind of a “song within a song”.
| 
