HISTORY FLASHBACK – 30 years of EMP: 1992-1994
Wow, we almost can't believe this: This fall – on November 27th to be precise – marks the 30th anniversary of EMP. Thirty. Like 3 and 0. Crazy, isn't it? However, we're not gonna plunge into an identity crisis but look back on the past three decades with pride. 30 years in which EMP developed from a tiny flyer catalogue to Europe's leading e-commerce retailer in the rock and entertainment business. Until our official birthday in November we are going to condense the past 30 years in ten blog posts – looking back on what happened with us, with metal and the rest of the great wide world. Let's carry on with the years 1992 to 1994!
1992
The EMP cover in the summer of 1992 features the German thrash band Tankard with the cover of their “Stone Cold Sober” album. It looked like this:
In 1992 bands like Edguy, Lordi, Machine Head of Moonspell were formed – all of which are still present today. But look at the albums that year spawned: Alice in Chains – “Dirt”, Blind Guardian – “Somewhere Far Beyond”, Body Count – “Body Count”, Bolt Thrower – “The IVth Crusade”, Bon Jovi – “Keep the Faith”, Deicide – “Legion”, Faith No More – “Angel Dust”, Iron Maiden – “Fear of the Dark”, Kyuss – “Blues for the Red Sun”, Megadeth – “Countdown to Extinction”, Ministry – “Psalm 69”, Obituary – “The End Complete”, Pantera – “Vulgar Display of Power”, Rage Against the Machine – “Rage Against the Machine”, Tankard – “Stone Cold Sober”, Tiamat – “Clouds”, Unleashed – “Shadows in the Deep” - what a fantastic year for metal music, wasn't it?!
Many iconic movies found their way into the theatres in 1992: Tarantino had his breakthrough with “Reservoir Dogs“, Peter Jackson gave us „Braindead“ and Tim Burton “Batman Returns“. Equally great: “Army Of Darkness“, Disney's “Aladdin“, “Wayne's World“ and... “Basic Instinct“!
Game addicts played “Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins” on the Game Boy that year – the birth of supervillain Wario!
1993
The British band Skyclad who had just released its breakthrough album “Jonah's Ark” and would have a big influence on the future of folk metal is on the EMP cover in early 1993. “Thinking Allowed” was a great tune back then, wasn't it? Actually, it still is today.
The EMP catalogue looked like this:
EMP achieved a breakthrough in 1993 as well: We moved into our own company building with 320 m² of office und 1.000 m² of storage space – yee-haw!
The fall catalogue was covered with Unleashed's third album “Across The Open Sea” - “To Asgaard We Fly”! Well, flew.
Children Of Bodom, Dark Funeral, Dimmu Borgir, HammerFall, Korn and Theatre Of Tragedy came into the world in 1993. As did the following metal classics: Carcass – “Heartwork”, Dark Tranquillity – “Skydancer”, Entombed – “Wolverine Blues”, Katatonia – “Dance of December Souls”, Morbid Angel – “Covenant”, My Dying Bride – “Turn Loose The Swans”, Satyricon – “Dark Medieval Times”, Savatage – “Edge of Thorns”, Sepultura – “Chaos A.D.”, Tool – “Undertow” and Type O Negative – “Bloody Kisses”.
And what did people watch in cinemas back then? Schindler's List”, “Jurassic Park”, “Nightmare Before Christmas”, “Groundhog Day” or “Philadelphia” for instance. Not bad, either!
At the end of 1993 the video game “Doom” is released and becomes a milestone in FPS history.
1994
On the cover of the EMP summer catalogue Grave Digger play their “Symphony Of Death”:
Bands like Hatebreed, Lacuna Coil, Six Feet Under or Strapping Young Lad are born into the metal family – and a “small” German band called Rammstein.
Our CD players are running hot under albums like Amorphis – “Tales from the Thousand Lakes”, Cannibal Corpse – “The Bleeding”, Cradle of Filth – “The Principle of Evil Made Flesh”, Dream Theater – “Awake”, Emperor – “In the Nightside Eclipse”, In Flames – “Lunar Strain”, Korn – “Korn”, Machine Head – “Burn My Eyes”, Marilyn Manson – “Portrait of an American Family”, Nine Inch Nails – “The Downward Spiral”, Pantera – “Far Beyond Driven”, Soundgarden – “Superunknown” or Tiamat – “Wildhoney” - each of which we could put into our player again RIGHT NOW.
And right after we watch movies from 1994 like “Pulp Fiction”, “The Shawshank Redemption”, “Léon: The Professional”, “Forrest Gump”, “The Lion King”, “Natural Born Killers”, “Speed” or “The Crow”.
On or computers “Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger” was a big hit – no other than Mark “Luke Skywalker” played the leading role in that video game.
At the end of 1994 the EMP catalogues comes with a split cover, showing Tiamat's “Wildhoney” and Samael's “Ceremony Of Opposites”.
Check back with us soon for the next chapter in EMP history!
