Beyond the veil: Per Yngve Ohlin a.k.a Dead: Mayhem, Morbid

"Dead: Life eternal"

Per Yngve Ohlin, better known by his stage name "Dead" was a Swedish front-man for the Norwegian black metal band Mayhem and his hometown death metal band Morbid. He was one of the most influencial yet notorious frontmen of all time and played an integral role in the evolution of second wave black metal. His grotesque stage performances and smearing of corpse paint on the face cemented the ethics for the genre.

Dead(left) with Euronymous, the black emperors

Dead chose a relevant stage name as he himself confessed that he did not feel human. Wikipedia and several other sources state that he once had a near-death experience, hence giving birth to his stage name. He had weird notions and his lyrics reflected them. His character fitted to his name. He was melancholic, dismal with an introvert nature. He was obsessed with the castles of Carpathia and Transylvania which he fondly talked of in interviews. His corpse which Euronymous photographed saw Dead wearing a t-shirt that reads "I love Transylvania".

On stage, he was equally a phenomenal presence. His raw vocals coming straight from his throats sounded like a tormented soul, gasping for air. He wore corpse paint not just to look cool but to feel like a corpse. He used to bury his clothes before gigs and wear them at night to give them a rotting, corpse-like odour. He used to cut himself and slit his wrists on stage to drive away the poseurs. Speaking of poseurs, he loathed them as he thought they ruined the black metal scene in Norway.

On 8th April, Dead freed himself from this world by slitting his wrist and neck and later, shooting himself with a shotgun. His blood-clad cadaver, photographed by Euronymous would later feature on Mayhem's bootleg live album "Dawn of the black hearts" where he is seen lying next to the shotgun and a knife. The suicide note that Dead left read "Excuse all the blood, cheers."