Shant Hagopian

Shant Hagopian is a Canadian songwriter/guitarist, of Syrian/Armenian heritage. From 1996 to 2003 he specialized in Jazz guitar studies, and in 1997 he founded the progressive rock/metal band Nu.Clear.Dawn as one of the first and very few bands to emerge out of the Syrian scene, Touring throughout the Middle East and playing in large festivals. Shant moved to Canada in 2005 and started working on his solo project “Semantic Saturation” with the debut album “Solipsistic” which was released on January 21, 2013 featuring progressive metal gurus such as drummer Virgil Donati, bassist Ric Fierabracci with guests; keyboardist Derek Sherinian (ex. Dream Theater) and vocalist Andy Kuntz (Vanden Plas). The debut album received nothing but astonishingly positive feedback from fans and metal 'zines. Shant Hagopian's second Progressive Rock/Metal creation titled PARADIGMS is set out for a midsummer release on August 20, 2018, featuring phenomenal drummer Craig Blundell (Frost*/Steven Wilson) and prodigious bassist Kristoffer Gildenlöw (ex-Pain of Salvation). Semantic Saturation's PARADIGMS promises Progressive Metal fans and old school rockers alike, one hell of a stellar journey into infinite realms of mind blowing musical structures and spellbinding melodies. Press quotes: "Hagopian is often compared to Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. Believe it or not, none of them convince me emotionally as Hagopian does" -Laboratorium Muzycznych Fuzji - Aug 27, 2018 "Besides being an outstanding guitar player himself, Shant has always taken good care on finding great musicians to interpret the rest of the instruments on his albums. it’s undeniable that Shant has the rare ability to transport you to your deepest emotions with his compositions and his playing." -Lady Obscure Music Magazine - Aug. 24, 2018 "A good album, even an instrumental one, depends on more than a versatile and talented guitar player. Hagopian seems to understand this, and he gets to shine as much as can be reasonably expected as the lead guitarist without vocals to compete with." -Angry Metal Guy - Aug 23, 2018 "Hagopian has certainly got enough talent and ability to keep this project going for a long while, and creates soundscapes worthy of any musician to want to join him in the future based on the two albums thus far." -My Global Mind - Aug 11, 2018 "Imagine if Joe Satriani joined up with Liquid Tension Experiment" -Progressive Music Planet - Aug 12, 2018 "Shant Hagopian, the mastermind of the project. Admittedly, he is not a household name in the prog-rock community, but after one listen to Paradigms, it’s hard to see why he isn’t one. His playing style is a lot of what we love about our favorite guitarists, especially with a lot of John Petrucci at times, all chameleon-ized into whatever the album needs at any given moment. His clean playing is understated and gentle, his lead melodies are singable to the point where Joe Satriani could be jealous, his speed and shredding are tasty and never self-indulgent, and yet his greatest strength might be as a band leader." -Sonic Perspectives - Aug. 6, 2018 "‘Paradigms’ is a wonderfully complex and accomplished piece of work but, deep at its core this album is full of incredibly infectious grooves. Shant Hagopian and your stellar cast of musicians please take a bow for this fantastic achievement." -Prog Radar - Aug 1, 2018