Chinchilla

One of a number of majestic-sounding power metal bands to employ a less than majestic (make that downright silly) moniker, Germany's oddly named Chinchilla were formed in 1988 by guitarist Udo Gerstenmeyer and made their debut with the No Mercy EP two years later, only to disband almost immediately. Gerstenmeyer managed to briefly resurrect the group in 1994, recording a second EP called Who Is Who with vocalist Martin Obermeier, bassist Michael Vetter, and drummer Mike Kuhner, but another four years would pass before Chinchilla released a proper debut in the form of 1998's Horrorscope. Marc Peters (bass) and Steffen Theurer (drums) had joined the band by then, and keyboardist Marc Steck and new vocalist Thomas Laasch were added in time for Chinchilla's second album -- and first for new label Metal Blade -- Madness, which arrived in the year 2000. This lineup remained stable through 2002's The Last Millennium, which stayed true to the group's mid-paced brand of melodic power metal, but more personnel shakeups were on the horizon, and new members Josh Näberle (bass), Artur Diessner (keyboards), and Criss Schwinn (drums) were introduced by 2003's elaborate concept album, Madtropolis. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia, All Music Guide