Dead (musician)

Dead (born January 16, 1969 , † April 8, 1991 in Kråkstad ), real name Per ("Pelle") Yngve Ohlin , was a Swedish musician. He was a founding member of the influential death metal band Morbid and, from 1988 until his death, was the frontman and singer of the black metal band Mayhem . In the first few years after his death, he developed into one of the greatest cult figures on the European black metal scene.

The American label Roadrunner Records lists Dead at number 48 on The 50 Greatest Metal Frontmen of All Time list .

Career

Pseudonym "Dead"

As a child, Ohlin had a near-death experience , including being clinically dead at times. Because of this experience, he considered himself dead and chose the pseudonym "Dead". How this near-death experience came about is still controversial today. Dead told his bandmates that he collapsed on ice while skating as a child , which only brought him back to consciousness after numerous attempts at resuscitation in the hospital. In an interview with the editors of the Swedish metal book Blod eld död (German: 'Blood Fire Death'), however, his brother stated that Dead suffered a ruptured spleen and severe internal bleeding after a fight at his school , from which he almost died would.

Morbid (1986-1988)

In 1986, Dead founded the death metal band Morbid. The formation had difficulties with the organization right from the start, as a result of which the line-up changed frequently. In the fall of 1987, Dead had a guest appearance with the band members at the time in the music video for Bewitched by the Swedish doom metal band Candlemass . A short time later in December, the band recorded the December Moon demo at Thunderload Studios in Stockholm. Since still no gigs could be organized and Dead was of the opinion that morbid would not lead to anything, he left in early 1988.

Mayhem (1988-1991)

After leaving, he contacted Jørn "Necrobutcher" Stubberud with a package containing a crucified mouse and the demo recording of Morbid. Necrobutcher showed this recording to Euronymous and the other band members and then asked Dead if he would like to become the new singer with Mayhem. Dead accepted and moved to Norway. After joining, he wrote the lyrics for the band, which moved away from their gore / splatter theme; instead, his depression and stronger influences from occultism and satanism flowed in . He categorically rejected politically committed texts in Death Metal, such as Napalm Death , and lamented the emerging death metal trend. The members of Mayhem described Dead as introverted, depressed, and weird; Among other things, he collected dead animals, inhaled the smell of decay and tended to be auto-aggressive . Dead shaped the development of Mayhem significantly, but recorded only a few tracks with the band. The only official studio recordings were two pieces for the compilation Projections of a Stained Mind , released in 1991.

suicide

In 1991, Dead cut his wrists with intent to commit suicide. When that didn't work, he shot himself with a shotgun in the band's house in Kråkstad. When Euronymous discovered the body, he photographed it before informing the police and the other members of the band. Mayhem's bass player Necrobutcher broke off contact with him and left the band. Euronymous announced that they would use the material on the upcoming Mayhem LP and saw the reason for Dead's suicide in the commercialization of black metal, which Dead himself had lamented in interviews; he began to direct verbal attacks and threats against "wrong" death metal bands, opened the record store Helvete (hell) and formed the Norwegian black metal scene around it, from which (sometimes physical) attacks on it Direction went.

As a tribute to Dead, Live in Leipzig was released in 1993 . Mayhem's debut album De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas was released in 1994, with delays after Euronymous' assassination in August 1993; the lyrics were from Dead, but the photographs of Dead's body are not included. One of these photographs appeared in 1995 on the Colombian bootleg The Dawn of the Black Hearts - Live in Sarpsborg, NORWAY 28/2/1990 .

Discography

With morbid

• 1987: December Moon

With Mayhem

• 1991: Carnage and The Freezing Moon (CD version only) on Projections of a Stained Mind
• 1993: Live in Leipzig
• 1995: Out from the Dark

Individual evidence

1. ^ Announcement of Dead's funeral in a Swedish newspaper ( memento from July 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive ).
2. ^ Image of Dead's tombstone ( Memento from July 28, 2009 in the Internet Archive ).
3. ↑ Michael Moynihan , Didrik Søderlind: Lords of Chaos . Venice: Feral House 1998, ISBN 0-922915-48-2 , p. 62.
4. ↑ ^{a b c d} documentation Pure Fucking Mayhem , 2008.
5. ↑ Jeremy Rosen: THE 50 GREATEST METAL FRONT-MEN OF ALL TIME! ( Memento of March 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on March 3, 2013.
6. ↑ Michael Moynihan, Didrik Søderlind: Lords of Chaos . Venice: Feral House 1998, ISBN 0-922915-48-2 , pp. 58f.
7. ↑ Stefan Rydehed: Pure Fucking Mayhem , 2008.
8. ↑ Blod eld död . ISBN 91-501-1334-8 .
9. ↑ Martin Ledang, Pål Aasdal: Once Upon a Time in Norway , Another World Entertainment 2007.
10. ↑ ^{a b} Kriss-Toff Scottis: DEAD ( Memento of the original from February 17, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . 
11. ↑ Mayhem: The Dawn of the Black Hearts - Live in Sarpsborg, NORWAY 28/2/1990 , Warmaster Records 1995.