Chroming Rose from Senden, Germany, power metal forged in 1985, brought together vocalist 'Wotan', guitarist Matze Mende, bassist Harry Steiner and drummer Tino Mende. In 1987 'Wotan' was superseded by 'Orä'and the group stabilised for a couple of years before adding second guitarist S.C. Wuller in 1989 and ditched 'Orä' in favour of Gerd Salwski. In 1990 guitarist Matze Mende was the next casualty, departing after the release of the debut album Louis XIV for EMI, and his position was taken by Rikki Rieger.