Tracks:

Arise Of Madtropolis, The - (Intro)
Our Destiny
Dance With The Devil, A
When The Sand Darkens The Sun
Entire World
Satellite
Heavy Metal
Headless Fools
Turn Around The Magic Table
Money Rules Everything
Battle Of The World
Madtropolis
Fall Of Madtropolis, The - (Outro)

What kind of band names themselves Chinchilla? Particularly a heavy metal band. Metallica, that's certainly a heavy metal name. Slayer, yeah, that's a heavy metal name. But Chinchilla…it's a small furry rodent. Unless it happens to be cousin to the rabbit in a classic Monty Python movie, I just don't see it as being a ferocious metal name. But who am I to say.

Regardless of their somewhat peculiar name, Chinchilla is a great band. I own their last album "The Last Millenium" and it is a good piece of work. I expect much the same quality from "Madtropolis" their latest effort.

Like so many albums these days, this one starts with a symphonic instrumental track before moving on to the first "real" track.

Sounds to me like these guys graduated from the Blind Guardian school of power metal. Not that they sound like BG really, but there are stylistic similarities. This can only be a good thing. So far track 2, "Our Destiny" sounds pretty cool. It's quick, melodic, and catchy, all staples of good power metal.

The production is good on this disc; it sounds great, although it's not my style of mixing. The guitars are a wall of noise most of the time; I like a more distinct guitar sound. But that is just the style, the music is still great.

Yeah, I'm on track 4 now, and I'm really feeling the BG vibe now. Sounds very reminiscent of "Imaginations from the Other Side" era BG. When I say this of course, it's really only me trying to find a point of reference to explain what I am hearing to you. Chinchilla will never be mistaken for Blind Guardian or anything like that, but they could be categorized together.

I don't think I'm accurately conveying how cool this CD is yet. It really is very good. I think I may still be basking in the glow of yesterday's Callenish Circle listening. Need to switch gears into power metal mode.

"Satellite" is timely. I can relate to this song right now in my own personal life. Well, I think I've found my favorite track on this CD. Gonna be hard to beat the sappy power ballad right now. This song actually seems familiar somehow, but then that's often the case with a good song.

So I've listened to the rest of the disc now, and there are two ways you can view what I'm about to say. All the rest of the songs sort of sound like the same song played differently, there isn't much diversity. Now, you can take that as a bad thing if you like, but it is really more an observation than a judgement. It's also a good thing because while they all sound pretty similar, they are all also really good. Taken in doses this is pretty great, but it's not something that is easy to listen to from beginning to end without losing some interest. That said, this is still a good above average album. Who knows, it may just need to grow on me for a few more listens.