Diabo Informa

DISSECTION frontman Jon Nödtveidt’s suicide could have a profound effect on his fans, says psychologist Lisa Ineland in an interview in the Swedish newspaper Expressen.

“Research
shows that these incidents have a copycat effect even if it’s not a
famous person who commits suicide,” she says. “But obviously the impact
is greater if the act is committed by a role model. That was apparent
when Kurt Cobain killed himself.”

The black metal culture often revolves around death and suicide, and as a faithful Satanist, Jon Nödtveidt often spoke in positive terms about suicide. According to Lisa Ineland, his suicide doesn’t have to be related to Satanism or black metal.

“I
believe there’s a severe, underlying depression behind it,” she says.
“It’s not rational behavior to do something like this. Very few people
take their own lives because of their conviction. That type of act is
not part of our culture. This is about him not getting the help he
needed.”

Concerned parents should make it a point to talk to their children.

“You could ask them, ‘How do you [view Jon's suicide]?’ and ask if they’re discussing it with their friends,” says Ineland.
“You should try to be a part of your child’s reality. You should always
try to be a present role model and talk to your children about
important and existential issues, what life is all about and how
important children are.”

The Swedish writer Mattias Pettersson is working on a book about the influence of Satanism in black metal and was preparing an interview with Jon Nödtveidt.

“I wanted to talk to him because he was unique in the genre,” says Pettersson.
“He was for real and really lived that way he taught. I think most
people in black metal are just regular hard rockers to whom religion is
not that important. It’s easy to write a cliché lyric about murder and
death, but if you read Jon’s lyrics you notice that he became more and more serious.”

Pettersson thinks it’s tragic that Jon took his own life.

“He
was a huge talent. For an outsider it might be difficult to come to
terms with what has happened, but to me personally it was expected.”

In the Sunday (Aug. 20) paper edition, Expressen published a couple of photos of Jon Nödtveidt after DISSECTION’s
final gig at Hovet in Stockholm on June 24. These are believed to be
the last professionally shot pictures of him. One of them can be viewed
here.