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Album Reviews
# of "Main" reviews: 359 (mean score: 8.5)
# of additional "User" reviews: 547
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http://www.chinchilla.rocks.de/
Origin: Germany
Guitarist Udo Gerstenmeyer formed this band in 1988, with the release of an album, No Mercy, appearing in 1990. Due to lineup changes and other turmoil, the band put out just one album (an EP!) between 1990 and 1998. After assembling more stable personnel, Chinchilla has fired off several abums in the 2000's. My experience with the group includes only one album, but from that album, I would say their style can be described as a less proggy Edguy.
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The Last Millennium (2002)
B 8.4
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From the moment singer Thomas Laasch opens his mouth, it's impossible not to think of Edguy. With the music galloping along in mid-tempo German power metal fashion, the vocalist's uncanny resemblance to Tobias Sammet makes it difficult to get past the fact that these are not lost tracks from Edguy or Avantasia sessions. By the end of the full album, the differences are more obvious however. Partly because the vocalists takes on a little bit of his own identity, but also because the songs lack the quality, variety, and symphonic trademarks of an Edguy or Avantasia. Front to back, pretty much every song on The Last Millennium obeys the same formula of sustained power chords, speedy guitar solos, mid-tempo gallops, forceful verses, preparative bridges, and sing-along choruses. Lyrics are mostly poor, due in part to the language gap, but they work adequately for the style of music, I suppose. On the whole, more diversity would certainly have been appreciated -- some longer songs or a few ballads or "ballad moments", at the very least -- but the band is good at what they do. Luckily the album is only about 50 minutes long ... I think anything more and the "samey" nature of the album would have affected it more drastically. Fans of Edguy's heavier side would probably love the sound and style of this album, while others might get bored easily with its lack of progressive touches. For those who enjoy tasteful cover songs, it should be mentioned that Chinchilla does a pretty decent job with Thin Lizzy's "The Boys are Back in Town" on this album. Also of note, Andy B. Franck (Symphorce, Brainstorm) is credited on the cd for lending backup vocals. (1/29/2006)
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