Per “Dead” Ohlin was the vocalist of Norwegian black metal band, Mayhem, before his suicide in 1991. On 8 April 1991, Ohlin was found dead, by Euronymous, of a shotgun wound to the head. He had also cut his wrists and left a suicide note, which included an apology for having shot a firearm indoors and which ended with: “Excuse all the blood.” Instead of calling the police, Euronymous went to a nearby store and bought a disposable camera to photograph the corpse, after re-arranging some items. One of these photographs was later stolen and used as the cover of a bootleg live album entitled Dawn of the Black Hearts. According to Stian Johannsen (aka Occultus), who briefly took position as vocalist after Dead’s suicide:
“He [Dead] didn’t see himself as human; he saw himself as a creature from another world. He said he had many visions that his blood has frozen in his veins, that he was dead. That is the reason he took that name. He knew he would die.”
