“(86/100) Dayton, Ohio metallers Arch Rival have their debut album In The Face Of Danger re-issued by Rockaholics Records. I hadn’t heard this album before, but I really dig this release. To me it is a quality dose of old-school 80s metal (which it was!), cleaned up and presented along with 2 bonus live tracks and a full 12 track DVD with bonus features! Value for money? Yes indeed! Take a little Racer X, Dokken, Impellitteri and XYZ even and mix it all up and Arch Rival is what you get. Quite impressive really and one of those albums that sounds just a little dated, but considering the age, it has held up beautifully.”Andrew McNiece – MelodicRock.com
“This album contains great 80s Hardrock. Yes, this is a band that can be compared to Firehouse, XYZ, Dokken and Hurricane to name some. Steve Snyder has a strong and great voice that are made for Hard rock like this and sometimes reminds of a mixture of C.J Snare (Firehouse) and Michael Sweet (Stryper).The songs are damn fine 80s Hardrock with strong hook lines and memorable choruses. If you like me missed this Arch Rival album from 1991 when it was released for the first time and are into 80s hard rock in the veins of the mentioned acts then check up this nice released in a great package.”Juha Harjula – Melodic.net
“9/10 What an awesome album ! Heavy metal fans will really appreciate “ITFOD” and they will pull out of the mothballs their torn jeans and muscle t-shirts to relieve the memories…”Astaroth Priestess – Metalhead RO
“90/100 “The revamped release is more than a simple reissue, with it’s bonus DVD and fantastic packaging. Musically “In the Face of Danger” is a melodic heavy metal dynamite.The cd is literally filled with hits!Pressing the repeat button is inevitable ! Buy it now !””Kostas Kounadinis – Mario's Metal Mania
“8/10” The album is filled with catchy riffs, sing along choruses and pure head banging anthems that are topped with an amazing guitarist, who delivers some really nice solos, and a stunning singer!Christina Parastatidou – Behind the Veil
“In The Face Of Danger” is truly exciting in a sense that it displays a bunch of tight and qualitative compositions that flaw harmonically throughout the duration of the c.d. In my opinion, that’s the strong point of the album…you cannot skip a single track and you listen to it very easily!”Sakis Nikas – Rock Pages
“No Grade/re-release. If you happen, upon it – i cannot but recommend that you buy “In the face of Danger” as it comes highly recommended.”Lady Evil – Solid Rock
“85/100 “As far as the album is concerned, the singer Steve Snyder & the guitar player, Michael Harris really shine. High vocals, without exaggerations & great solos make up this masterpiece.Fans of this genre that’ve never heard of AR before, should check them out.This band deserves our respect.””Chris "WildChild" Zarkadakis – Metal Zone
“- “Excellent” “Enjoy some ass-kicking music by an American melodic Metal band 100% worth your attention””Grigoris – Metal Temple
“10/15 Fans of bands like FIREHOUSE,DOKKEN,STEELHEART, TORA TORA and SKID ROW will appreciate this album.”Lars Schuckar – Music Reviews DE
“ARCH RIVAL is simply one of the best metal bands ever produced in the U.S.A. past or present!”Keith Langerman (music critic) – KL
March 30, 2009
ARCH RIVAL SIGNS WITH ROCK-A-HOLICS RECORDS:
We’re immensely proud to have in our ranks such an excellent band, led by the charismatic guitar virtuoso, Michael Harris, who doesn’t need much of an introduction. This guy is one of the best players in the business and he keeps on releasing quality material time after time, no matter which band he plays with. Apart from his three releases with ARCH RIVAL and half a dozen solo albums, Michael was trusted by the great Vitalij Kuprij (ARTENSION) to be the leadguitarist on his solo albums and he also masterminded the incredible Thought Chamber, which featured the vocal talents of one Ted Leonard (of Enchant fame) whose debut “Angular Perception” was one of the top sellers, if not the Top Seller for Inside Out Music, when it was released back in 2007. His phenomenal but always tasteful playing was influenced by such guitar luminaries as Ritchie Blackmore, Robin Trower, & Jimmy Page at first and eventually Frank Marino,Steve Morse, Uli Jon Roth, and Michael Schenker.
But ARCH RIVAL is not, a one man show as we’ve got the dynamic duo of Gary Rigmaiden on bass and Greg Martin on drums. Two fine players indeed, whoprovide the perfect rhythmical background for the music of ARCH RIVAL. Speaking of which … well the songs, they really SHINE ! Perfectly crafted,uber-cool, rock tunes with lots of attitude and choruses that will stick to your head like super glue. Oh and not to forget, there’s THE VOICE – Steve Snyder – the singer and soul of ARCH RIVAL. Man, if the songs and the playing are going to leave you gasping for air, Steve is guaranteed to deliver you, the final blow. He’s one of the best vocalists, you’ve probably never heard before, (your loss) but you won’t be able to get him out of your mind – once you have!This guy has a great range; a beautiful voice that overflows with emotion, a passionate and gutsy delivery…this guy has unbelievable charisma!!! It’s beyond us, how this guy or the band for that matter never really, made it big. If you like Don Dokken, Jon Oliva and Paul Rogers, well the Snyderman sounds like all of them rolled into one and then some.
And it’s not only us. Keith Langerman, a respected music critic, states, “ARCH RIVAL is simply one of the best metal bands ever produced in the U.S.A. past or present!” We couldn’t agree more! ARCH RIVAL has got the undeniable ability to write compelling rock music with lots of melody as well as power!