Steve Dadaian Collaborates with Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater Premieres “Garden of Stars” at Consequence

2nd Solo Album Revenant City Drops May 9, 2025

Also Featuring Marco Minnemann & Redvard Dolanski

songs I finished working on for the album and when I presented it to Jordan, he added

elements that not only completed but elevated the song. It’s a great representation of

modern progressive metal and the album itself with heavy riffs, technical and melodic

leads, and orchestral arrangements. It opens with a unison lead between both of us to set

the stage and even in sections where the keyboard leads aren’t apparent, Jordan arranged

ambient textures to follow the chord changes. The collaboration was very natural and

casual as we were working on ideas in his studio; it turned out to be one of my favorite

tracks on the album!” – Steve Dadaian

“I’ve had the pleasure to work with Steve Dadaian on a number of songs, both on my own album and his upcoming release Revenant City. Not only is his guitar playing off the charts, his songwriting and musicianship is also next level which I really value and sets him apart. We had a lot of fun with this one; the leads are energetic and the ambient and orchestral parts add a whole different dimension I think listeners will love. I’m looking forward to everyone hearing ‘Garden of Stars’ and all our future collaborations together!” – Jordan Rudess

Watch Official Music Video @ Consequence.net here:

https://consequence.net/2025/03/steve-dadaian-garden-of-stars-jordan-ruddess-premiere/

Steve Dadaian’s second solo album Revenant City, featuring Jordan Rudess, Marco Minnemann and Redvard Dolanski drops May 9, 2025.

“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

Pre-Order Revenant City Now and Receive First Single “Garden Of Stars” as a Bonus!

https://stevedadaian.bandcamp.com/album/revenant-city

Cover Art by Ilya Nazarov

Electric/Acoustic Guitars – Steve Dadaian

Bass Guitar – Redvard Dolanski

Drums – Marco Minnemann

Keyboards – Jordan Rudess

Mixing & Additional Production – Redvard Dolanski, 6ound Studios

Mastering – Mike Kalajian

Steve Dadaian is an award winning guitar virtuoso from New Jersey. His style combines

classical, fingerstyle guitar stylings with technical and emotive lead and rhythm playing on

electric guitar. Blending elements of modern progressive rock, metal, fusion and classical, he

has become a respected player in the world of instrumental music, pushing the boundaries of

what the guitar can express, such as guitar arrangements on 9 string classical guitar. While the

songs often display fretboard acrobatics, the wide scope of his songs include strong melodies

and grand orchestral components. Notable performances include opening for guitar icons

Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen. He was previously nominated by RollingStone as a “Next

Young Gun” and has also done educational videos and content for other major publications

such as Guitar World. Dadaian has also recently been featured as the guitarist on Jordan

Rudess’ (Dream Theater) solo album Permission to Fly where he played all acoustic, classical,

and electric rhythm guitars as well as main leads. His debut solo album Follow the Light was

released in 2019 and his sophomore album Revenant City is a tour-de-force of epic guitar

performance. He proudly endorses ESP Guitars and DR Strings.

Follow Steve Dadaian:

instagram.com/stevedadaian

facebook.com/steveDadaianGuitar

youtube.com/stevedadaian

bandcamp.com/stevedadaian

Story: Ralph Greco, Jr.
Ralph Greco, Jr. is the devilishly clever nom de plume of professional writer/musician Ralph Greco who lives in the wilds of suburban New Jersey. He is also a podcast co-host, but as everyone has a podcast these days, this fact is of very little consequence.

Ralph can be reached by writing ralphiedawriter@gmail.com

 

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