Fancy owning a very physical piece of black metal history? How about a super disturbing Christmas present for your friend who never leaves the house?
A skull fragment of former Mayhem vocalist Per 'Dead' Ohlin would probably fulfill either of those needs, and you can actually purchase it - along with a two-page letter written to label management by founding member Euronymous - for a mere $3500 USD via the true crime memorabilia site Serial Killers Ink.
The items originate from the infamous suicide of Dead in 1991, which saw him shoot himself in the head with a shotgun. Mayhem guitarist Euronymous found his body, before taking a photo of his corpse (as you do) and calling the authorities. The image of his body was used as the album art for the band's Dawn Of The Blackhearts live bootleg album, which has now become one of the most infamous covers in music history (very NSFW):
Back in 2012, Marduk's Morgan 'Evil' Steinmeyer Hkansson told Loudwire that he also possesses a piece of Dead's skull, but also has bullet fragments and a piece of the vocalist's wet brain matter. Brutal. He explained:
"I got it way back, right after he died. Back in those days they [Mayhem] were living in a house and didn't have the best financial aspects, so they didn't even have a telephone. So I remember I was celebrating New Year's in 1991 with Dead back home in Sweden. Then he got back, he wrote one letter [to me], then someone told me he's killed himself. So I wrote a letter [to Mayhem] and then I got the reply back from the guitar player [Euronymous]: "Well he just shot himself and here's a piece of his skull." It was a shotgun, you know? So [he also sent me] two pieces of the lead and a piece of the wet brain. I've still got it. I keep it well protected."
Listen to Mayhem now.
