The darkest and most dangerous band

Per Yngve Ohlin was known as 'Pelle' by his family and friends. He was born in Sweden in 1969 not far from the capital Stockholm. Unfortunately, he was not very popular at school and was bullied by some of the kids. He occasionally received beatings and in one of them his spleen was ruptured causing internal bleeding. The incident was so serious that for a short period of time the doctors considered him clinically dead. Luckily, they managed to stabilise him at the hospital and he made a full recovery. Pelle never revealed the truth of what had happened and, if he was asked about the episode, would normally reply that he had an accident while skating. It was his brother who many years later explained what really happened.

Both sides of Pelle

Possibly, as a result of this traumatic experience, Pelle developed a morbid interest in death and all things related to funeral symbols and rites. Musically, he was very interested in heavy metal groups and wanted to be part of a band with similar tastes. After forming a group that didn't work out in his native Sweden, he decided to get in touch with Mayhem, a Norwegian band that was looking for a vocalist. Pelle sent them a package containing a letter, a cassette, and a crucified mouse. With that gesture he definitively caught the attention of the band. It wasn't long until he moved to Norway and by 1988 was already a member of the band.

It was customary for black metal members to have a stage name and Pelle decided to call himself ‘Dead’ because in reality, as he explained, he was not human, he was a creature from a different world. He had visions and he thought that the blood in his veins was frozen and he was not really alive.

Today we know that Pelle most likely suffered from a rare mental condition known as Cotard's syndrome in which people tend to believe that they are dead, have no blood, lack internal organs or are in a state of putrefaction. Strangely enough, many of those who suffer from this syndrome also believe that they are immortal.

Pelle also suffered periods of deep depression and he was constantly self-harming. He was attracted to everything that was directly or indirectly related to death. He used white make-up to look like a corpse, self-mutilated, slept with dead animals under his bed, and buried his clothes in the ground for several days to acquire that quality of 'dead clothes'. His behaviour at concerts contrasted with his attitude in daily life, deeply reserved, melancholic and withdrawn. Before going on stage he inhaled a bag in which he kept dead animals, He wanted to have the 'perfume of death' while he was performing. Sometimes, he would cut himself in public and throw pig heads and blood into the crowd. Although it was not to everyone's liking, it gave the group some notoriety and attracted the attention of some people looking for more extreme experiences.

It was this attention that greatly pleased Euronymous, the band's guitarist. Despite the fact that his relationship with Pelle was not very good (they already had several fights and on one occasion Pelle stabbed him with a knife) Euronymous thought that this chaotic and dangerous image benefited the group. They were becoming a group with the ability to shock the Norwegian society. They were also connected to the wave of church arsons in the country.

Pelle was convinced that he did not belong in this world and he was constantly looking for a way out. On April 8, 1991 he did exactly what he said, as described in his farewell note:

Excuse the blood, but I have slit my wrists and neck. It was the intention that I would die in the woods so that it would take a few days before I was possibly found. I belong in the woods and have always done so. No one will understand the reason for this anyway. To give some semblance of an explanation I'm not human, this is just a dream and soon I will wake. It was too cold and the blood kept clotting, plus my new knife is too dull. If I don't succeed dying to the knife I will blow all the shit out of my skull. Yet, I do not know. I left all my lyrics by "Let the good times roll"—plus the rest of the money. Whoever finds it gets the fucking thing. As a last salutation may I present ‘Life Eternal'. Do whatever you want with the fucking thing. / Pelle. I didn't come up with this now, but seventeen years ago

Unfortunately, it was Euronymous who found Pelle's lifeless body. What he did next left everyone stunned and shows his real character. Instead of seeking help or calling the police, he went out to buy a camera and photographed the scene. He even moved some objects to make everything more ‘artistic’. He put the knife and the gun next to Pelle's body. He claimed that his intention was to carry out an artistic project and he had the time to make a necklace with the remains of the skull. He phoned another member of the band and told him that Pelle had done “a really cool thing”, he had killed himself. Shockingly, in an album released in 1993 he used one of the photos of the suicide on the cover, and with that action he gained the hate of a large part of the black metal world. Euronymous made several enemies himself and ironically, he was killed a couple of years later by another musician he had previously collaborated with. The Norwegian metal scene of the time was no joke at all.