“This album was a follow up to my debut album Follow the Light (2019) and I wanted to build upon many of the things I introduced with that concept record. Revenant City follows it its footsteps with each track offering something unique that embodies my style as a musician. My background is varied, having a traditional classical guitar background as well as having a progressive metal influence on electric guitar, each song has these elements in different forms. Some songs (‘Shadowborne’, ‘Garden of Stars’) found collaboration with Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater), a friend and icon who I’ve had the pleasure to work with multiple times including playing guitar on his recent solo album Permission to Fly (Sony/Inside Out). For drums I also collaborated on certain songs (‘Barons of the Sky’, ‘The Story of Life’) with Marco Minnemann who I’ve also worked with on previous projects. The demo process began the winter after my debut album was released with my mix engineer and fellow guitarist Redvard Dolanski. We worked on a series of songs I had in the works. Once things began taking shape, I was eventually fortunate to work with guitar legend Kiko Loureiro (ex-Megadeth) who helped direct and give valuable feedback on my music under his mentorship. Working with such notable musicians took this album to a new level, I could not have imagined otherwise.
This album saw additional production and greater scope of the music. The progressive metal elements are reinforced with orchestral ones that give an epic feel. Each song tells its own story, based on the fantasy story elements introduced in my first album. Incorporating some of my other interests in movies and games, I was also fortunate to have the album cover art done by the talented lead concept artist Ilya Nazarov, known for his work in the gaming industry (Lord of the Rings, Fallout), who really captured the visual elements I was aiming for from my concept sketches. The cover shows a fiery, floating city, the Revenant City, where the album takes place. From start to finish, the album has songs I’m very proud of and that I hope keeps the listener engaged for its near hour running time. Between the varied playing styles, compositions, and more the album presents, I’m hoping to also present a new evolution in the virtuoso guitar approach that combines next-level performances with cohesive songwriting. As a whole, it represents my best playing to date that I am excited to share with the world.” – Steve Dadaian