HISTORY FLASHBACK – 30 Years of EMP: 2004-2006
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 2004 to 2006!
2004
In 2004 EMP modernised the old store rooms and transformed them into modern office spaces which in total encompass an area of 2.700 m². The first two magazine covers of the year graced Edguy with their album „Hellfire Club“ and Nightwish with „Once“ - their last work with singer Tarja Turunen. And they looked like this:
Of course 2004 had in store many other important metal albums as well – amongst others “Amon Amarth – Fate of Norns”, “Behemoth – Demigod”, “Dio – Master of the Moon”, “Finntroll – Nattfödd”, “In Flames – Soundtrack to Your Escape”, “Killswitch Engage – The End of Heartache”, “Lamb of God – Ashes of the Wake”, “Mastodon – Leviathan”, “Nightwish – Once”, “Rammstein – Reise, Reise” or “Slipknot – Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses)”. Bands like Job for a Cowboy, Legion of the Damned and Alter Bridge were born, others – such as Mötley Crüe and Megadeth – rose from the dead.
The Böhse Onkelz said „Adios“ with their homonymous album while Within Temptation released one of their best albums - „The Silent Force“. Both bands were featured on the two EMP magazine covers of the second half of the year.
As far as movies are concerned, 2004 was a big year as well: „Shaun of the Dead”, “Kill Bill 2”, “Million Dollar Baby”, “L.A. Crash”, “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”, “Butterfly Effect”, “The Bourne Supremacy”, “Aviator”, “Dawn of the Dead” or “Hellboy” rocked the cinemas. And „World of Warcraft“ shocked the video game industry.
At the end of that year, one of the biggest catastrophe in human history took its course: On December 26th a gigantic tidal wave flooded the coastal areas of India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. About 230,000 people perished in the course of that catastrophe.
2005
In 2005 an era drew to a close: On April 2nd Pop John Paul II died aged 84, 26 years after his enthronement. His successor was a German: cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI. In Germany, Gerhard Schröder reluctantly gave way to Angela Merkel.
The first two EMP magazine featured the album artworks of Judas Priest's „Angel of Retribution“ und System Of A Down's „Mesmerize“:
Many many great albums saw the light of day in 2005: Arch Enemy – “Doomsday Machine”, As I Lay Dying – “Shadows Are Security”, Avenged Sevenfold – “City of Evil”, Bolt Thrower – “Those Once Loyal”, Bullet for My Valentine – “The Poison”, Deep Purple – “Rapture of the Deep”, DevilDriver – “The Fury of Our Maker’s Hand”, Disturbed – “Ten Thousand Fists”, Exodus – “Shovel Headed Kill Machine”, Gojira – “From Mars to Sirius”, Gorefest – “La Muerte”, High on Fire – “Blessed Black Wings”, Kamelot – “The Black Halo”, Kreator – “Enemy of God”, Limp Bizkit – “The Unquestionable Truth (Part 1)”, Meshuggah – “Catch Thirtythree”, Nine Inch Nails – “With Teeth”, Opeth – “Ghost Reveries”, Parkway Drive – “Killing with a Smile”, Queens of the Stone Age – “Lullabies to Paralyze”, Rammstein – “Rosenrot”, Sabaton – “Primo Victoria”, Soilwork – “Stabbing the Drama”, System of a Down – “Mezmerize/Hypnotize” and Trivium – “Ascendancy”. What a fantastic vintage!
In the second half of 2015 the EMP magazine featured Manowar with their „Hell On Earth IV“ DVD and Rammstein with „Rosenrot“:
The following movies were essential in 2005: “Sin City”, “Batman Begins”, “Walk The Line”, “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride”, “Broken Flowers”, “Brokeback Mountain”, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, “The Descent” and “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith”. In the video game orbit the release of the Xbox 360 made quite a splash.
2006In 2006, the year of our 20th anniversary, our logistics centre was expanded by 5.000 m². Speaking of anniversary: In autumn we threw an epic birthday party with no other than Motörhead performing live – Lemmy still tells his celestial booze buddies about that night. All hail Lemmy!
By the way: In 2006 EMP opened their first branch in Finland – hölleken kölleken!
And this were the EMP cover artworks of the first half of the year: In Flames with „Come Clarity“ and Tool with „10,000 Days“!
Of course there were many more great albums in 2006: DragonForce – “Inhuman Rampage”, Edguy – “Rocket Ride”, In Flames – “Come Clarity”, Kataklysm – “In the Arms of Devastation”, Caliban – “The Undying Darkness”, Lordi – “The Arockalypse”, Queensrÿche – “Operation: Mindcrime II”, Tool – “10,000 Days”, Celtic Frost – “Monotheist”, Satyricon – “Now, Diabolical”, Sabaton – “Attero Dominatus”, Slayer – “Christ Illusion”, Iron Maiden – “A Matter of Life and Death”, Blind Guardian – “A Twist in the Myth”, Amon Amarth – “With Oden on Our Side”, Trivium – “The Crusade” or The Haunted – “The Dead Eye” were released in 2006 as well.
Sad news for metalheads though: System Of A down split ways and have not released another album since.
Blind Guardian's “A Twist in the Myth” and Rammstein's “Völkerball” live DVD graced the EMP titles of the second half of the year:
And in cinemas? “Pan's Labyrinth”, “Departed”, “Prestige”, “Little Miss Sunshine”, “James Bond 007 – Casino Royale”, “Lucky#Slevin”, “Adam's Apples”, “Blood Diamond”, “Once”, “Pirates of the Caribbean – Dead Man's Chest“, „Crank“... what a movie year!
And when Sony's PlayStation 3 was released, everybody went nuts.