Artist: Michael Harris 
   Title: Ego Decimation Profile
   Label: Lion Music

Hailed as one of the finest Instrumental guitar players of today Michael Harris's career has been at the top of his profession for some 15 years, so his stature in this particular genre is already well renowned.  Following the success of his 2006 release 'Orchestrate Harris' he's decided to bring his highly acclaimed 'Ego Decimation Profile' album of 1996 bang up to date and taken full advantage of today’s modern recording and mixing techniques.

This new re-mastered and remixed version of the album showcases the pure depth and majesty that can be produced to breath new life into an album.  Don’t get me wrong, the 1996 version of the album was good, but this new version of the album is simply awesome.  This time around Harris adds a slightly more ambient sound to the guitars as they seem to soar effortlessly out of the listeners headphones ... and you must listen to this album with headphones.

The album gets underway with probably one of the heaviest track on the entire album ‘Forewarning’, along with ‘Brainwarp’ (but more of that later), this track features the only re-recording on the entire album as Harris re-recorded the intro using nylon strings for the new version instead of the original steel stringed version, which gives it added warmth, before the track bursts forward into a Power Metal delight full of energetic riffs and a thumping drum section courtesy of Rob Stankiewicz.

The heavier feel to the album is continued with ‘Vicious Uppercut’, this is metal guitar playing at its finest as Harris really lets rip on this one, with Stankiewicz equal to the task with some superb drums, as is David Harbour on the bass guitar.

After all this great metal guitar it's time to bring a little Progressive soundings into the mix with ‘Stratus-Fear’, again Harris’s guitar work is flawless on this one as it is on all the album.  After the metal and prog it's time for Harris to throw a little jazz fusion into the pot with ‘Julius Seizure’, with a change of drummer on this one we find Keith Carlock pounding out a veritable storm on this one, with heavy mix of jazz and metal this is quite an outstanding track.

The shortest piece on the album is ‘Pawn To King IV’ which comes in at just over a minute and a half.  This grandiose piece breaks the album down and gives the listener a chance to dwell on what has gone before.  Then it's all systems go again with one of my favourite pieces from the album, ‘Grandscape’.  This is where a guitar supremeo like Harris somehow manages to make even the simplest of riffs sound so intricate and mesmerizing, such is the magnificent craft of this man.

The album just oozes splendour as it continues along the progressive path with ‘Hair On The E String’ before the funky metal tones of ‘Freudian Trip’ are unleashed on the unsuspecting listener.  But it’s the sheer blood and guts metal of ‘Brainwarp’ that makes it the track of the album for me, with Matt Thompson this time laying down the pummelling drum section on this one, but it's Harris’s guitars that make this such an outstanding metal ensemble.

The album comes to a close with ‘Terminus Epic’, a slower more melodic metal piece that rounds off what is for me a great instrumental album and one worthy of the Harris name.

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