Per Yngve Ohlin (partially lost photos of suicide of Swedish black metal singer; 1991)
This article has been tagged as NSFL due to its discussion of a real-life suicide, the aftermath and photos.
Per Yngve Ohlin.
Status: Partially Lost
Per Yngve Ohlin (January 16th, 1969 - April 8th, 1991) Also known as "Pelle" and "Dead" was a Swedish black metal singer who served as the vocalist for Mayhem from 1988 to 1991.
Background
Per Yngve Ohlin (nicknamed Pelle) was born on January 16th, 1969, in Sweden. As a young child, he had suffered from sleep apnea and had allegedly wanted to die at a young age.[1] At the age of ten he had suffered internal bleeding caused by a ruptured spleen due to a severe beating from bullies.[2] Per was rushed to the hospital where for a while, he was declared clinically dead. However, paramedics managed to successfully resuscitate him. A few years after this incident, Per had developed a fascination with death. This fascination would later inspire his stage name, "Dead."[3] In 1985/1986 Per formed the metal band Morbid and released the demo December Moon. Despite releasing a demo tape, the band split up as per wasn’t happy with the fact that the band wasn’t going anywhere. In early 1988, Per would move to Norway, so he could join the band, Mayhem.[4]
Mayhem
Per would join Mayhem in early 1988. He would move into a house (located in Kråkstad) that was shared between him, Øystein Aarseth (AKA Euronymous) and Jan Axel Blomberg (AKA Hellhammer). It has been widely documented that Per and Øystein did not get along with each other. Jan recalls an incident where Per left the rehearsal house to sleep outside because Øystein was playing synth music, a genre of music that Per hated. To further antagonize Per, Øystein would follow him outside and begin to shoot into the air with a shotgun that the band members had owned. Varg Vikernes of Burzum recalls an incident where Per had stabbed Øystein during an altercation.
Suicide
On April 8th, 1991, when Per was left alone in the band’s rehearsal house, he had taken a hunting knife and slit open his wrists and neck. He would then write a suicide note. Immediately after writing the note, he took a shotgun, aimed it to his head and pulled the trigger.[5]
Øystein, who had to enter the house through an open window, was the first person to find Per’s corpse. Øystein would then visit a nearby store to purchase a disposable camera.[6] Once he had made it back to the rehearsal house, he took numerous photos of Per’s corpse. One of these photos was sent to Warmaster records and was used on the album cover The Dawn of The Black Hearts.[7]
According to the book Lords of Chaos, one of the other photos consisted of Per "sitting half up with the shotgun on his knee." However, this, among other photos of Per, were destroyed by Øysteins’ father, shortly after his murder, in 1993.
Availability
The aftermath of Per’s suicide is pictured on the Dawn of The Black Hearts album cover. However, Per’s brother, Anders Ohlin has requested that the album cover must not be spread around, in fear that his children may see it. Furthermore, the website discogs blocks any marketplace selling of the album. In 2017, the album was reissued, and the original cover was replaced with an image of Mayhem’s bassist Necrobutcher.[8]
References
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20120331113426/http://www.peryngveohlin.com/biographie3.htm
- ↑ Johannesson, Ika; Klingberg, Jon (2011). Blod Eld Död [Blood Fire Death] (in Swedish). Alfabeta. ISBN 9789150113341.
- ↑ Martin Ledang (director), Pål Aasdal (director) (2007). Once Upon a Time in Norway (motion picture). Another World Entertainment.
- ↑ https://www.loudersound.com/features/ex-mayhem-skitliv-frontman-maniac-resurrects-his-seminal-damaged-inc-fanzine
- ↑ Aaron Aites (director, producer), Audrey Ewell (director, producer) (2009). Until the Light Takes Us (motion picture). Variance Films.
- ↑ Moynihan, Michael; Søderlind, Didrik (2003) [1998]. Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground (revised and expanded ed.). Feral House.
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20110102184308/http://www.raginpitmagazine.com/3285/the-%E2%80%9Ctrue%E2%80%9D-history-of-black-metal-%E2%80%93-2-of-4/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20181123065622/https://burningshed.com/mayhem_live-in-sarpsborg_vinyl