Rob Arnold was born on January 3, 1980. He is best known as a member and lead guitarist of the new wave metal band “Chimaira”. Chimaira was formed in 1998 by rhythm guitarist Jason Hager, and vocalist Mark Hunter. The pair added the drums of Jason Genaro on drums and Andrew Ermelick on bass to complete the group.
At their first rehearsals, the band quickly decided that they needed a thicker guitar sound and on the advice of bass player Andrew Ermelick, the guitarist Rob Arnold was recruited. Ermelick had played with Rob Arnold previously in a band called “Common Thread.” Now in Chimaira he provided the guitar sound the band were looking for.
Chimaira recorded their first demo in 1999 and after hearing it, Rob Arnold recommended they replace drummer Genaro with a former band mate of his, Andols Herrick. Herrick became Chimaira’s new drummer as soon as the band heard his demo tape. The next day Jason Genaro was dropped from the band.
The band have had 5 studio albums released to date, They are; “Pass Out of Existence” (2001), “The Impossibility of Reason” (2003), “Chimaira” (2005), “Resurrection” (2007) and “The Infection” (2009).
Rob Arnold has named some of his influences as Kirk Hammett, “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott, Dave Mustaine, Marty Friedman and Kerry King as being important to his playing style.
Rob Arnold’s varied guitar style features hammer ons, hammer offs, offbeat timings and false harmonics. He uploads videos, teaching people how imitate his style and endorses a wide range of musical equipment. He also makes instructional DVDs which concentrate on metal guitar soloing, riffing, and writing.
Rob Arnold is endorsed by ESP Guitars and has his own signature models with an M body shape. These are called the RA-2 and RA-3 and are tuned to drop-C (CGCFAD).
Rob also has a 7-string ESP Horizon Custom, tuned to drop-A (AEADGBE).
Rob Arnold’s amplification includes a Peavey 6505+ amp head paired with a Mesa Boogie Cabinet.He also uses a range of guitar effects pedals including a Digitech GSP1101 Processor, an ISP Decimator pedal, a Boss tuner pedal, and a Furman power conditioner.
Rob Arnold continues to play guitar with Chimaira and is lead guitarist for the band, “The Elite”, who released an EP titled “WW3” in July 2009.