It is arguably the most disturbing image in music history. If you’ve spent any time in the darker corners of heavy metal, you know exactly what I’m talking about. We are talking about Mayhem Dawn of the Black Hearts, a live bootleg that became the definitive artifact of the Norwegian Second Wave of Black Metal. It isn't just an album. Honestly, it’s a crime scene.
Most people see that cover—a photograph of vocalist Per "Dead" Ohlin after he took his own life—and they think it’s some high-concept, edgy marketing stunt. It wasn't. There were no PR firms involved. No creative directors. Just a polaroid camera and a guitarist named Euronymous who decided that the death of his friend was the perfect way to "prove" the band’s commitment to darkness.
What Mayhem Dawn of the Black Hearts actually sounds like
Forget the controversy for a second. If you strip away the gore, what are you actually listening to? The recording features a live performance from Sarpsborg, Norway, on February 28, 1990. This was the "classic" lineup: Dead on vocals, Euronymous on guitar, Necrobutcher on bass, and Hellhammer on drums.
The audio quality is, frankly, terrible. It’s thin. It’s scratchy. It sounds like it was recorded through a tin can buried in the snow. But that’s the point. This isn't polished studio work like De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. This is raw, visceral energy. You can hear Dead’s voice—haunting, guttural, and genuinely pained—tearing through tracks like "Freezing Moon" and "Funeral Fog."
Dead was known for cutting himself on stage with broken glass or hunting knives. He’d carry around a dead crow in a bag just to inhale the scent of decay before a show. When you listen to Mayhem Dawn of the Black Hearts, you aren't just hearing a band play songs; you’re hearing the literal disintegration of a human being’s mental health set to blast beats.
The Sarpsborg setlist and the atmosphere
The tracks usually found on the various pressings include:
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- Deathcrush
- Necrolust
- Funeral Fog
- Freezing Moon
- Carnage
- Buried by Time and Dust
Some versions throw on extra tracks from a 1986 show in Lillehammer, but the Sarpsborg set is the meat of the thing. It’s short. It’s chaotic. It’s the sound of four guys who were basically kids—Euronymous was barely in his early 20s—trying to create the most "evil" music on the planet. They succeeded.
The story behind the photo
This is where things get heavy. In April 1991, Dead died by suicide in a house shared by the band members. Euronymous found him. Instead of calling the police immediately, Euronymous went to a local shop, bought a disposable camera, and rearranged some of the items in the room to make the "scene" look more striking. He took pictures.
One of those pictures ended up as the cover of Mayhem Dawn of the Black Hearts. It wasn't an official Mayhem release at first. It was released in 1995 by Mauricio "Bull Metal" Montoya, a pen pal of Euronymous and owner of Warmaster Records in Colombia.
It’s easy to look back and call Euronymous a monster for this. A lot of people do. Necrobutcher, the band’s bassist, was so disgusted by Euronymous’s actions that he actually left the band for a period. He later admitted in interviews that he was so angry he wanted to kill Euronymous himself. Of course, Varg Vikernes eventually beat him to it in 1993, which is a whole other saga.
Why this bootleg still matters in 2026
You might wonder why we’re still talking about a low-quality recording from 35 years ago. It’s because Mayhem Dawn of the Black Hearts represents a turning point where art and reality collided in a way that hadn't happened before. In the 80s, bands like Venom or Slayer sang about Satan and death as a sort of theatrical rebellion. It was a costume.
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Mayhem made it real.
The bootleg is a testament to the "Inner Circle" philosophy. They weren't just playing music; they were living a grim, nihilistic ideology that eventually led to church burnings and murder. When you hold a physical copy of this record (if you can even find one that hasn't been banned from marketplaces like Discogs), you’re holding a piece of history that is fundamentally "wrong."
The legal and ethical quagmire
Most mainstream retailers won't touch this. Discogs, the world's largest music database and marketplace, has officially banned the sale of the original version due to its graphic nature. You can find "censored" versions where the cover is replaced by a logo or a different photo, but collectors still hunt for the original Warmaster pressing.
- Rarity: Original 1995 pressings can go for thousands of dollars.
- Ethics: Is it okay to own this? Fans are split. Some see it as honoring Dead’s legacy; others see it as a ghoulish exploitation of a man who needed help.
- Sound: Again, it's rough. Don't expect hi-fi.
Misconceptions about the recording
A common myth is that the recording captures the "last words" of the band or something equally dramatic. It doesn't. It’s just a standard gig. Another misconception is that the band authorized the release. They didn't. Hellhammer and Necrobutcher have both expressed mixed feelings about it over the decades.
Some people also confuse this with the Live in Leipzig album. Live in Leipzig is an official release and is generally considered the better performance. It’s still raw, but it was professionally recorded. Mayhem Dawn of the Black Hearts is the "forbidden" sibling that gets all the attention because of the cover art.
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The legacy of Dead (Per Ohlin)
Dead is the reason this album has a soul. He didn't care about being a rock star. He wanted to be a corpse. He literally used to bury his clothes in the earth for weeks before a show so they would smell like rot. His performance on this bootleg is the only real evidence we have of his stage presence.
He had a condition that some believe was Cotard’s Delusion—the belief that one is already dead or does not exist. This wasn't a "gimmick." It was a profound psychological struggle. When you hear him scream on "Freezing Moon," you’re hearing someone who was genuinely detached from the world of the living.
Actionable insights for collectors and fans
If you are looking to delve into the history of Mayhem Dawn of the Black Hearts, you need to be careful. The market is flooded with fakes. Because the original was a bootleg itself, "official" reprints are rare and often of dubious quality.
How to approach this piece of history:
- Avoid the overpriced "repros": Many eBay sellers try to pass off modern bootlegs as 90s originals. Look for the "Warmaster Records" logo and check the matrix code on the vinyl.
- Listen for the context: Don't just put it on as background music. Read Lords of Chaos or watch the documentary Until the Light Takes Us first. You need the context of the Oslo scene to understand why this exists.
- Seek out the censored versions: If you want the music without the trauma of the cover art, look for the "Live in Sarpsborg" reissues. Peaceville Records has released better-sounding versions of this exact performance that won't make your stomach churn every time you look at your shelf.
- Support the survivors: If you want to support Mayhem, buy their official merchandise or newer albums like Daemon. The band today is a powerhouse, and while they acknowledge their past, they aren't the same kids who were taking pictures of crime scenes in 1991.
The story of this album is a dark one, but it is an essential chapter for anyone trying to understand why heavy metal evolved the way it did. It marks the moment the genre lost its innocence and became something truly dangerous. Keep your eyes open for the nuances in the recording, and remember that behind the "legend," there was a group of deeply troubled young men.