Dead (musician)

Infobox musical artist
Name = Dead


Img_capt = A photograph of Per Yngve Ohlin's corpse was used as the cover of a now-infamous bootleg album.
Img_size = 225px
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Per Yngve Ohlin
Alias =
Born = Birth date|1969|1|16|mf=y
Stockholm, Sweden
Died = Death date and age|1991|4|8|1969|1|16
Oslo, Norway
Origin =
Instrument =
Genre = Black metal
Death metal
Occupation = Musician (vocalist)
Years_active = 1987–1991
Label =
Associated_acts = Mayhem
Morbid
URL =

Per Yngve Ohlin (January 16 1969 – April 8 1991), better known by his stage name Dead, was a Swedish black metal vocalist best known for his work with Norwegian black metal band Mayhem. He also performed as vocalist of the Swedish death metal band Morbid on their demo "December Moon".

Biography

Personality

In interviews, fellow musicians often described Ohlin as a strange and introverted person. Fellow bandmember Hellhammer described Ohlin as "a very strange personality ... depressed, melancholic, and dark." [ [http://www.thetruemayhem.com/interviews/previous/hh-lords.htm "Lords of Chaos" (1998): Hellhammer interview] ] Likewise, Mayhem guitarist Euronymous once stated "I honestly think Dead is mentally insane. Which other way can you describe a guy who does not eat in order to get starving wounds? Or who has a t-shirt with funeral announcements on it?" [ [http://www.thetruemayhem.com/interviews/previous/euro-morbidmag8.htm "Morbid" magazine #8: Euronymous interview] ]

According to Emperor drummer Bård "Faust" Eithun:

He (Dead) wasn't a guy you could know very well. I think even the other guys in Mayhem didn't know him very well. He was hard to get close to. I met him two weeks before he died. I'd met him maybe six to eight times, in all. He had lots of weird ideas. I remember Aarseth was talking about him and said he did not have any humour. He did, but it was very obscure. Honestly, I don't think he was enjoying living in this world.

Performances

For concerts, Ohlin went to great lengths to achieve the image and atmosphere he desired. From the beginning of his career he was known to wear "corpse paint", which involved covering his face with black and white makeup. According to Necrobutcher, "It wasn't anything to do with the way Kiss and Alice Cooper used makeup. Dead actually wanted to look like a corpse. He didn't do it to look cool." [ [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1419364,00.html "In The Face of Death" (20 February 2005)] ] Additionally, Hellhammer claimed that Ohlin "was the first black metal musician to use corpse paint." [ [http://www.thetruemayhem.com/interviews/previous/hh-june1998.htm Hellhammer interviewed by Dmitry Basik (June 1998)] ]

In order to complete his corpse-like image, Ohlin would bury his clothes before a concert and dig them up again to wear on the night of the event. According to Hellhammer:

Before the shows, Dead used to bury his clothes into the ground so that they could start to rot and get that "grave" scent. He was a "corpse" on a stage. Once he even asked us to bury "him" in the ground - he wanted his skin to become pale. [ [http://www.thetruemayhem.com/interviews/previous/hh-june1998.htm Hellhammer interviewed by Dmitry Basik (June 1998)] ]

Whilst singing on stage, Ohlin would often cut himself with hunting knives and broken glass. He claimed to be fascinated by people's reactions to this. During one concert in Sarpsborg during February 1990, Ohlin cut himself so badly that he had to be taken to hospital due to blood loss.Fact|date=June 2008

During one tour with Mayhem he found a dead crow, which he collected and stored in a jar. He often carried it around with him and would smell the bird before performing, in order to sing "with the stench of death in his nostrils." [ [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1419364,00.html "In The Face of Death" (20 February 2005)] ]

uicide

At some point in 1990, the members of Mayhem moved to "an old house in the forest" near Oslo. [ [http://www.thetruemayhem.com/interviews/previous/hh-june1998.htm Hellhammer interviewed by Dmitry Basik (June 1998)] ] Hellhammer claimed that Ohlin "just sat in his room and became more and more depressed" and that there was a lot of arguing between Ohlin and Aarseth. [ [http://www.thetruemayhem.com/interviews/previous/hh-lords.htm "Lords of Chaos" (1998): Hellhammer interview] ]

On 8 April 1991, Ohlin committed suicide in the house owned by the band. He was found by Aarseth with slit wrists and a shotgun round to the head. The shotgun was allegedly owned by Aarseth. [ [http://www.thetruemayhem.com/interviews/previous/hh-lords.htm "Lords of Chaos" (1998): Hellhammer interview] ] Ohlin's suicide note read "Excuse all the blood" and included an apology for firing the weapon indoors. Instead of calling the police, Aarseth went to a nearby store and bought a disposable camera to photograph the corpse, after re-arranging some items. [ [http://www.thetruemayhem.com/interviews/previous/hh-lords.htm "Lords of Chaos" (1998): Hellhammer interview] ] Necrobutcher claimed that "I think Øystein was shocked by Dead's suicide, and taking the photographs was the only way he could cope with it." [ [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1419364,00.html "In The Face of Death" (20 February 2005)] ] One of these photographs was later stolen and used as the cover of a bootleg live album entitled "Dawn of the Black Hearts". [ [http://www.thetruemayhem.com/interviews/previous/hh-sod.htm "Sounds of Death" magazine (1998): Hellhammer interview] ]

Eventually, rumours surfaced that Aarseth made a stew with pieces of Ohlin's brain, and made necklaces with fragments of Ohlin's skull. The band later stated that the former rumour was false, but that the latter was true. [ [http://www.thetruemayhem.com/interviews/previous/hh-june1998.htm Hellhammer interviewed by Dmitry Basik (June 1998)] ] Additionally, Aarseth claimed to have given these necklaces to musicians he deemed worthy. Necrobutcher noted that "people became more aware of the (black metal) scene after Dead had shot himself ... I think it was Dead's suicide that really changed the scene." [ [http://www.thetruemayhem.com/interviews/previous/necro-unrestrained15.htm "Unrestrained" magazine #15: Necrobutcher interview] ]

Discography

With Mayhem

*"Dawn of the Black Hearts" – recorded at a concert in Sarpsborg on February 28, 1990
*"Live in Leipzig" – recorded at a concert in Leipzig on November 26, 1990
*"Freezing Moon/Carnage" – recorded at a studio session in 1990
*"Out from the Dark" – recorded at a rehearsal in 1991
*"De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas" – wrote all lyrics except title track, did not perform

With Morbid

*"Morbid Rehearsal" – recorded on August 7, 1987
*"December Moon" – recorded on December 25, 1987
*Dead also makes a brief appearance in the Candlemass music video "Bewitched".

References

External links

General:
* [http://www.thetruemayhem.com/ Official Mayhem Site]
* [http://www.peryngveohlin.com/ Dead fan site]
* [http://www.freewebs.com/peryngveohlin Dead fan site]
* [http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=6967 Morbid] on Encyclopedia Metallum
* [http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=67 Mayhem] on Encyclopedia Metallum
* [http://www.thetruemayhem.com/gallery/previous/dead/dead.htm Photo gallery]

Interviews:
* [http://www.thetruemayhem.com/interviews/previous/dead-slayer6-premayhem.htm Dead interview 1]
* [http://www.thetruemayhem.com/interviews/previous/dead-battery5.htm Dead interview 2]
* [http://www.thetruemayhem.com/interviews/previous/dead-slayer10.htm Dead interview 3]

Videos:
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvWFEZSFDYA Dead and Euronymous rehearsal (first part)]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LY9JaZeic2o Dead and Euronymous rehearsal (second part)]