Mayhem emerged in the mid-’80s in the black metal scene. The band was scandalous enough, but there also was a series of tragedies around Per Yngve Ohlin (Dead) and Øystein Aarseth (Euronymous).
Dead joined Mayhem as a vocalist in 1988. Euronymous was one of the founding members of Mayhem, and he was more than just a guitarist — he was the band’s ideologue who pushed them towards darker themes.
The two had a mutual artistic respect, but their relationship became fraught over time. Bassist Necrobutcher once said that the pair began to annoy each other, and this affected their friendship. This tension even resulted in Dead allegedly stabbing Euronymous with a knife after a disagreement over their music preferences.
Dead passed away on April 8, 1991, by suicide. He was found by Euronymous in their shared house. His farewell note had a feeling of alienation and a sense that he was living in a dream. He also left behind the lyrics to the song ‘Life Eternal,’ a title that now seems eerily prophetic.
Euronymous’s reaction to Dead’s death was rather controversial. He bought a disposable camera and took photographs of the scene. He later used them to bolster Mayhem’s ‘evil’ image. Rumors even said that Euronymous made necklaces from Dead’s skull fragments. Other band members later confirmed this claim.
A little over two years after Dead’s death, Euronymous himself met a violent end on August 10, 1993. Then-Mayhem bassist Varg Vikernes (Count Grishnackh) murdered Euronymous at his Oslo apartment. His death allegedly came after a dispute they had over a contract. Vikernes claimed that Euronymous intended to torture him to death and used the contract as a pretext for a meeting.
Euronymous’s body was found with twenty-three cut wounds. Vikernes was arrested within days and later sentenced to 21 years in prison for the murder and a series of church arsons. This is the maximum sentence in Norway. He was later released from prison in 2009.
His bandmate Blackthorn was sentenced to 8 years in prison for complicity in the murder, but he didn’t directly participate in the act.
Dead and Euronymous’s deaths had a lasting impact on Mayhem’s image. ‘The Dawn of the Black Hearts,’ a bootleg live recording of a 1990 Mayhem concert, was released in 1995. The album is seen as one of the band’s core releases, and it’s largely because of the cover art — it features one of the photos Euronymous took after Dead’s suicide.
