Letters from the Dead - In memory of Pelle Ohlin

by Per Yngve Ohlin, The Old Nick (Editor)

limited edition, 666 pieces

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

48 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2016

About the author

a.k.a. Dead

Reviews

[Katrin · Rating 5 out of 5]

this small booklet contains correspondence between the old nick, owner of an italian fanzine and distributor of music, and dead, who sold deathlike silence records to nick to be sold in italy. if it was only about business, then it maybe would not be worth printing these, but dead actually elaborates on many issues close to him, including his near-death-experience when he was a kid, his thoughts on satanism, occultism and vampirism. he talks about cutting himself, about superstitious beliefs in transilvania and surrounding areas, something he obviously was very interested in. now and then it really shines through that he was very unhappy and searching for something and feeling very confined in his present life. he also comments on the then present death metal scene, which was fun to read. ;) these letters give a rare glimpse into the inner turmoil of dead. even if it is just a small booklet, it was even more interesting than i thought it would be.

[Kerri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not particularly into metal, although reading this did remind me that I know so little about it that I could be wrong about that. For whatever reason this is a genre of music that has mostly passed me by. I spent my childhood happily listening to whatever was on the radio, particularly favouring The Spice Girls, Robbie Williams, Celine Dion, Shania Twain and Macy Gray. Probably not artists Dead would have approved of, but I still feel fond of them. Later I discovered rock and folk, which became my go to. I knew that while reading this book I wouldn't understand the references made, wouldn't know the bands mentioned. Even Mayhem, the band that Dead was briefly the lead singer for, is one I know more from reputation.

I can't remember how I got there, but one day I was reading an article that mentioned Mayhem as being the most controversial band in history. "Why?" I wondered in that innocent time before I started Googling. Initially I found the names baffling, especially as some writers toggled frantically between the mostly Norwegian names, and the chosen stage names, without given me a moment to remember that Euronymous was also Øystein for example. That Dead, who was Swedish, was also called Per, and Pelle. I won't detail it all here, but most notoriously, Dead killed himself, Euronymous took a photo of his corpse, that photo ended up on a bootleg album cover. Before that album came out (as far as I can tell, he had no input in the picture being used, but he DID send it someone who used it, and of course, he was the reason it even existed), Euronymous was murdered (brutally) by Varg, who had played bass on their album. Varg claims it was self-defense. I'm not sure that it is typical to drive hours to an apartment, be invited in, and stab someone 23 times, and still claim self-defense.

Also, crop tops were worn, churches were burned, Faust viciously murdered a gay man and Varg unintentionally dobbed him in. I'll link an article at the end of this review.
Anyway, I spent months reading about this band. I find it all fascinating, but also frustrating. Sometimes I feel like I almost like certain figures in the saga, other times I am repulsed by them. Varg in particular has many noxious views, although I suppose at least he is upfront about them. I feel torn on Euronymous, but I do have some sympathy for him in that the person that has put the most effort into shaping the public opinion of him is the man who murdered him.
Dead is probably the most sympathetic of the bunch. Although displaying some truly concerning behaviour, which potentially included harming animals (this is hard to verify) he is oddly endearing. We can be certain that he was depressed, prone to self-harm, and suicidal. He was also preoccupied with death and appearing to look dead.
"Before the shows, Dead used to bury his clothes into the ground so that they could start to rot and get that grave scent. He was a corpse on a stage. Once he even asked us to bury him in the ground — he wanted his skin to become pale." - Hellhammer

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. - Stian "Occultus" Johannsen

There is a theory that Dead suffered from Cotard's syndrome, although he was never diagnosed with this. I had never even heard of it before. According to Wikipedia:
"Cotard's syndrome, also known as Cotard's delusion or walking corpse syndrome, is a rare mental disorder in which the affected person holds the delusional belief that they are dead, do not exist, are putrefying, or have lost their blood or internal organs."

With the exception of Dead's immediate family, most people refer constantly to his weirdness, his depression, his morbid obsessions. His brother describes a rather brighter person. Certainly, in these letters he seems saner than you might expect, considering this is the same young man who one evening tried to drive spikes into his own head. (I read, but do not know if it is true, that Euronymous slept in the same room with him that night to prevent him trying again). In these letters he is invested in his music, even more so in his art (his drawings are good, I almost wish he had tried to become a morbid comic book artist instead of going to Norway to join a band) and had some future plans. However, most of dreams are the kind that feel unmoored from reality. I'm not talking about big dreams musically, but rather to visit Transylvania and survive by selling his blood, wanting to find a poisonous flower that was supposed to turn you into a werewolf, or to meet cannibal tribes (I can't remember why). I did wonder if the problem with yearning for these things to be real (not just mythological) was that the ideas sustaining you are not real, or at least not in the way he wanted them to be. I felt like he could have been a good scholar or professor delving deep into these varied interests, or writing strange novels or comics centered around these obsessions, but instead he seemed to want to find them in a literal sense.

Despite the unsettled feeling that the pursuit of these unobtainable realities gave me, the Dead in these letters seems friendly, warm, odd but in a refreshing way. There is humor and creativity. I can see why Old Nick was surprised by his suicide. Most of all, the writing here is a reminder of how young he was, and I simply felt sad that all this unique potential was lost so soon, at only 22. The trajectory of Mayhem might not have been so dramatic, maybe people wouldn't still be discussing the band today - but maybe also it would have been known entirely for the music (which is quite good) rather than the tragedies. It's hard to guess how interesting reading this might be to someone who isn't already interested in the band, or at least Dead. I haven't watched Lords Of Chaos, the fairly recent film that brought a lot of new interest to the band, but this might be a good additional read after watching, especially if you are wanting to get a better idea of the real person behind that story.
Although I don't think they were entirely to blame, it baffles me that the people around him weren't more vigilant. Taking into consideration that most of the young men he knew were young enough that their brains probably weren't fully developed, I'm still surprised that none of them thought it might be stupid to leave their suicidal friend home alone, in the middle of nowhere, with his best hunting knife and a loaded rifle. Perhaps the main reason I feel such sympathy for him, other than his obvious suffering from genuine mental instability, is that there is a possibility he could have been saved.


"I remember it was here I died
By following the freezing moon"
- Freezing Moon, Mayhem

Digital copy available here:
https://archive.org/details/lettersfr...

Article about the book:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/kz3n7...
Article about the band:
https://www.loudersound.com/features/...

**If you Google Dead, or even Mayhem, please note the suicide picture is easily obtainable, often popping up early under Google images, and can be difficult to avoid. **

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dead, Still iconoc, still alive in a way and still fascinating.
I was trying to get my hands on this for a while and accidently stumbled upon the ebook. I enjoyed it so much. Dead is a fascinating character. These letters gives an insight of him, his beliefs, his inner demons and turmoil. A person who really is into Black Metal or Mayhem will find this little booklet very important. For me, it's a very valuable addition to my collection.

Book #33 of 2021..
Around the world in 52 books - "A book whose title contains a negative"

[James Widdall · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is pretty much as it says on the cover. Letters from the late Dead from the band Mayhem to the Old Nick and while we don't get to see Old Nick's responses we can get the gist of what he was replying with. Dead is a bit on an enigma, someone who seemed to relish and embrace the idea of death and someone who seemed to want to leave his mortal coil as soon as possible, this is what historians have said about him. These letters provide and insight into his true psyche, he seemed to enjoy what he had going on. Unfortunately shortly after the last letter he took his own life which is another story in itself. If you are a Mayhem, black or death metal or just a massive music fan it's worth trying to get hold of this. It's not for the casual reader but I thourghly enjoyed getting into the mind of one of black metal's pioneers.
4/5

[Mary Goth · Rating 4 out of 5]

این کتاب خیلی کوتاه، شامل چندتا از نامه‌های دد، وکالیست بند میهم، به شخصی به نام نیکه...
تنها دلیلی هم که بهش بجای ۵ ستاره، ۴ ستاره دادم همین کوتاهیشه. نیک می‌تونست documentهای بیشتری جمع کنه و تهشم با چندتا نوشته و مصاحبه با اطرافیان دِد تموم بکنه و اینطوری جداً شاهکار می‌شد.
از اولین جرقه‌های جذبم به متال و به اصطلاح متالهد شدنم، منم مثل خیلی‌های دیگه، عاشق دِد بودم و شباهت‌هامون برام دیوونه‌کننده بود!
انگار دِد از بند میهم، یکی از افرادی بود که خیلی مثل خودم دنیارو می‌دید و یک نوع دیوونگی مشترک داشتیم!
خیلی‌ها می‌گن دِد مبتلا به cotard's syndrome بوده، اما بنظرم اتفاقاتی که توی ذهن اون می‌گذشت فراتر از یک‌دونه اختلال و اسمه...
اون توی سه‌سالگیش سویسادال بود، یکبار انقدر کتک خورد که near death experience رو تجربه کرد، قبل اجراش جسد یک کلاغ رو بو می‌کرد تا با عطر مرگ در سینه‌هاش بروی سن بره، لباس‌های استیجش رو دفن می‌کرد و اولین‌نفری بود که corpse makeup رو وارد بلک متال کرد.
دِد، فرهنگ بلک متاله...
دِد روح یک ژانره...
دِد همیشه زنده‌ست...
دِد دلیل نهفته‌ی تنفر جماعتی از یورانیموس و یکی از بزرگترین قتل‌های دنیای موسیقیه.
دِد اسطوره‌ایه که توی زندگی همه اثر گذاشته، حتی اگر اون رو نشناسن.
۲۲ ساله مرد. اما به بزرگی تمام این سالها اثر هنرش موند.

[A. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting psychological case study of a purposeless teenager.

While American rappers killed each other over fame and feuds, degenerate black metallers will kill themselves because of occult pseudo-spirituality, and well.. let's face it, sheer utter purposelessness and depression. "You kill me ? No, I kill me !".

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I watched Until the Light Takes Us over a decade ago, and it sparked a fascination in me with black/death metal bands. I've been particularly interested in Per Ohlin, and was hoping this little zinebook would fill in some of the mental picture I have of him (it did). I wish it had been longer; as it was, half the book was typed transcripts of Dead's letters, the other half photocopies of the originals (maybe better quality in the original tome, but as I was reading an Internet Archive copy, they were pretty shit, especially the photos and Dead's scribbles).

More than anything, though, I loved the sense of nostalgia it gave me. I had a ton of pen pals across Europe in middle and high school, and we ALWAYS smeared glue on our stamps so we could reuse them (rubber cement works best: dries clear and rubs rightb off!). The letters sounded almost identical to the ones I'd write and receive, except instead of discussing albums to send for resale, we'd negotiate trades (I could get some really sweet Roxette stuff for any Richard Marx/Mariah Carey/ABBA stuff I could send. It was the best of times, before the Internet, anyway).

I wish I could find an original copy of this.

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing omage to the late vocalist, amazing to see a glimpse into his offstage self, i find his way of writing very interesting. very interesting person.

[jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

llorando (otra vez)
per, la persona más interesante del mundo
esto es muy importante para mí <3 gracias por compartir

[Tay (Björk's version) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sighhhh

[elio · Rating 5 out of 5]

you shone brighter than moonlight! i’ll treasure you always. lovely, intimate read. you weren’t all frowns. my favourite zine, no doubt.

[71e]

I must find all Evil flowers and collect them.

[Amanda]

I'm suspicious to talk about the book because I'm sick for Pelle. For me the only bad part of the book is that it's short :(

[Amber Martinez]

How can I read this book? I can’t find it anywhere!