Dead (musician)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[edit] Life and death
A quiet, introverted person, Dead is perhaps best known for his stage antics. He was known to bury his clothes weeks before a concert and to then dig them up again on the night of the event. This way he would have, as he put it, the "essence of death"; wearing torn, dirty, moldy, and bug-infested clothing. During one tour with Mayhem he found a dead raven, which he collected and stored in a plastic bag. He would often smell the bag before performing, saying he needed to "inhale the smell of death."
On several occasions Dead cut himself with broken glass and hunting knives. During one show in Sarpsborg, Norway in 1990, he cut himself with a broken bottle so badly that he had to be taken to a hospital due to a loss of blood. Dead was also part of the "inner circle" (also called the "Black Circle", a cult-like group that most of the early Norwegian Black Metal musicians were involved in), a selective group with members such as Øystein 'Euronymous' Aarseth, Varg Vikernes (Burzum) and Faust (Emperor) based around Oysteins record store Helvete.
On April 8, 1991, fellow Mayhem band member, Øystein 'Euronymous' Aarseth, found Dead dead, with slit wrists, and a shotgun wound to the head. The suicide note that was found with his corpse simply read "Excuse all the blood. Cheers." (Hellhammer later elaborated that the note was a bit more detailed, including apologies for having to use the shotgun inside the house, but the knife was just too dull to finish the job). Euronymous then ran off and bought a disposable camera and took pictures of the grisly scene, which were later used for a bootleg album entitled Dawn of the Black Hearts, containing recordings from the previously mentioned Sarpsborg, Norway gig from 1990, as well as four live songs Mayhem performed with their old vocalist Maniac in 1986. Euronymous did not aprove of Dawn of the Black Hearts. Dead's suicide photo was never intended to be used at all for an album cover, but in fact it was stolen and used against the bands will. Many complain about the sound quality in Dawn of the Black Hearts, Saying Live in Leipzig is much better. Aarseth was also said to have eaten parts of Dead's brain, and to have made necklaces out of fragments of his skull, although Aarseth himself dismissed the former of these claims in an interview (1). The necklace was later stolen while on tour. It is also rumoured that pieces of his skull were mailed out to bands that Aarseth saw as "worthy", such as the Swiss band Samael. According to Mayhem drummer Hellhammer, Morgan S. Håkansson of Marduk still has some pieces of Dead's skull. It from Abruptum also claims to have small pieces.
[edit] Trivia
- Dead also had an appearance in the Candlemass video for the song "Bewitched." He is part of the group who "doom dances" to Messiah Marcolin's grave.
- In the picture of his body (from the cover of "Dawn of the Black Hearts"), the knife which he used to cut his wrists and forearms is resting on top of the sawn-off shotgun he used to commit suicide. Euronymous, who took the pictures, admitted he moved some things to make the pictures more shocking. He probably moved the knife to put it near the corpse.
[edit] External links
| Mayhem |
|---|
| Necrobutcher | Hellhammer | Euronymous | Dead | Attila Csihar | Blasphemer | Maniac |
| Occultus | Count Grishnackh | Blackthorn | Nordgaren |
| Discography |
| Studio albums: Deathcrush, 1987 | De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas , 1994 | Wolf's Lair Abyss , 1997 | Grand Declaration of War, 2000 | Chimera, 2004 | Ordo ab Chao, 2006 |
| Live and compilation releases: Live in Leipzig, 1993 | Out From The Dark, 1996 | Ancient Skin / Necrolust, 1987 | Necrolust / Total Warfare, 1999 | Mediolanum Capta Est, 1999 | European Legions , 2001 |
| Demos and bootlegs: Voice of a Tortured Skull, 1986 | Pure Fucking Armageddon , 1986 | Live Zeitz, 1990 | Dawn of the Black Hearts, 1991 |
| Related articles |
| Season of Mist | Bathory | Burzum |
fr:Per Yngve Ohlin it:Dead no:Per Yngve Ohlin pl:Per Yngve Ohlin pt:Per Yngve Ohlin ru:Dead fi:Dead sv:Dead
