Per "Dead" Ohlin

This week's post is rather morbid, so be warned.

 Per "Dead" Ohlin

Per "Dead" Ohlin was the lead singer of the Norwegian Black Metal band Mayhem from 1988-1991. He was apparently obsessed with death (thus his monicker "Dead"), and was known starve himself and bury his clothing prior to wearing them in order to appear as if he had recently emerged from the grave. Often during performances, Dead would cut himself and drink his own blood on stage. Sometimes he did this until he passed out, and claimed that he gained a euphoria from being in a place near death. His band mates, particularly the lead guitarist Euronymous, were well aware of his obsession with death, and had encouraged Dead to commit suicide during his entire stint with the band.

 Yes, this is actually Dead. And yes, he is dead. And yes, this is an album cover.

In what could almost be described as a "ritual suicide," Dead slit his own wrists and killed himself with a shotgun in 1991. After finding his body, Euronymous rearranged some of the items at the scene, left to purchase a disposable camera, and returned to take the photo above. He later used the photo as the album cover for Mayhem's next live album, which was the band's final release to feature Dead on Vocals. Euronymous also claimed to have kept parts of Dead's skull.

My interpretation of Dead's behavior is that his initial obsession with death was simply for the shock value involved with it. Black Metal is a fringe scene, the more one acts out of the social norm, the more infamy one acquires. Dead seems to have taken his quest for infamy to the extreme, perhaps to the point where it was no longer a desire for infamy, but rather a true obsession with death.

Euronymous' use of his photo on an album cover is curious. He obviously used the photo as a shock tactic, and the act could almost be considered more extreme than Dead's behavior. I however wonder if Euronymous justified this action by believing that Dead would have wished for his image to be used in such a fashion, as he was so obsessed with death in life.

Three years later Euronymous was murdered by his band-mate Varg; a whole different discussion in its own right.

The documentary "Pure Fucking Mayhem" provides a good overview of antics of this band and is where I've drawn most of my information for the above post.

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That's all for this week. Perhaps next time I'll actually discuss some archaeology, rather than meandering about cultural behavior associated with death.

Ciao.