Nattramn The Man, The Myth, The Rumors, and The Facts

Well those who Know Me the Best Knew this was Coming, Welcome Readers to My Latest Obsession Nattramn/Silencer.

Basic Stats:

Name – Mikael Nilsson (This has NEVER Been Officially Confirmed.)

Pseudonym – Nattramn

Born – Unkown Date, Year disputed as being Either 1975 0r 1977

Place of Origin – Markaryd, Smaland, Sweden

Silencer: The Beginning

In 1995 Black Metal Guitarist/Bassist Andreas Casado started Silencer as Solo Project using the Pseudonym Leere. Sometime between 1995 and 1998 (again No One is sure of the Exact Year) Nattramn signed on to the Project as The Duo’s Vocalist/Lyricist.

Silencer is considered to be a Sub Genera of Black Metal referred to as Depressive Metal or Suicidal Metal by Some. During Their entire Career Silencer released a One 11 minute Song Demo called Death- Pierce Me in 1998 , and One Full Length 6 Song Album also Titled Death- Pierce Me in 2001.

Nattramn’s unique Vocals garnered a great deal of attention since He opted to use a  High Pitched Lamenting Wailing that has been compared to the Sound of a Wounded Animal Dying. In My opinion Nattramn’s Vocals sound like what a Banshee would Should like if it Existed and started to Sing. In Their entire 6 year Career Silencer Never Preformed a Single Live Show, and Didn’t do a Single Interview.

In Reality virtually NOTHING is known about Nattramn prior to Him joining Silencer. As stated above under Stats No One knows When Nattramn was Born or If His Name is Actual Mikeal Nilsson. Before the Rise of the Internet Nattramn had already decided to live in isolated Anonymity, and to this Day He has NO SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE OR ACCOUNTS  and Doesn’t have or Maintain a Personal Website of any sort. All of which as only lead to Wild Rumors and Exaggerated Conspiracy Theories about Nattramn’s time in Silencer as well as aspects of His Life Past or Present.

Silencer disbanded in 2001 when Nattramn was Institutionalized at Sankt Sigfrids sjukhus Mental Hospital in Vaxjo. No One knows the details surrounding Nattramn’s Admittance to the Mental Hospital. No one is sure if He went Voluntarily, was Committed by His Family, or if He was Institutionalized by The Authorities. This didn’t seem to surprise anyone as the General consensus was Nattramn was and always had been Clinically Insane.

        

The Majority of Fans believe Nattramn spent 5 years in Mental Hospital, and Others think that He Stayed more than 5 years. Lastly there are Fans who believe Nattramn is still living at Sigfrids sjukhus to this very Day. Again when it comes to Nattramn No One really Knows.

What most everyone DOES AGREE ON is that at one point during His stay at The Mental Hospital His Doctors gave Him a Keyboard and encouraged Him to start writing Music again as a Therapeutic Tool. This lead to Nattramn’s Darkly Ambient Solo Project titled ‘Transformation’ under the Name Diagnose: Lebensgefahr (Roughly Translated from German as Diagnosis- Mortal Danger) in 2007.

In 2011 Nattramn released His Limited Edition book titled Grishjarta (or Pig’s Heart is Swedish) which is a collection of His Poetry as well as His Artwork, and contains a small collection of Photographs of Him in which His face is fully Obscured (Hidden). There are only 200 (a Few People think its 300) copies of Grishjarta each one Hand Numbered and Signed by Nattramn.

       

I personally have been searching for a Copy of Grishjarta for several months to NO AVAIL. Due to its extremely limited Copies makes Grishjarta a Quite Obscure and Rather Rare Book so all the Usual Options are Out. Amazon, Barns and Nobles, Books a Million, or Any other major Chain are not an Option. I went to Ebay and even in Ebay’s long and illustrious Career as a Global Internet Auction Site has only seen One Copy of Grishjarta come up for Sale, and it sold insanely fast for a commanding $210. I’ve since been talking with Rare Book Dealers and shit but still I am no where closer to owning a Copy than when I started. I will never stop Looking so I’m in it for the Long fucking Haul.

RUMORS:

There Three Principle Rumors Pertaining to Nattramn and His time in Silencer that have been circulating around the Internet for so fucking long They have almost become Urban Legends. I will agree all Three Now.

        

The First is by far the most INSANE fucking thing I have ever Heard I can’t understand how the hell anyone could believe it. The Rumor is that During Recording Nattramn CUT OFF HIS HANDS and SOWED ON PIGS FEETS TO REPLACE THEM. This is of Course Utter and Complete bullshit. This rumor stems from a series of Photographs Nattramn did for Silencer in which (as part of the costume) where His hands would be was wrapped in Bloody Bandages with Pigs Feet protruding from the Bandages in place of His Hands. So even if Someone is fucking stupid enough to think a Pig Foot Hand Replacement Surgery is or could be real You can CLEARLY SEE NATTRAM’S HANDS UNDER THE BANDAGES.

        

The Second Rumor is a bit more believable (especially in the Grim and Violent World of Black Metal) BUT IS STILL ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT. The Rumor is During Recording Nattramn was Self Mutilating to achieve a Higher State of Pain to Enhance His Vocals. It is Rumored Nattramn cut Himself deeply and repeatedly on His Hands, Wrists, and Arms during Recording. Allegedly Nattramn used a variety of Knives, Razors, and Large Shards of Broken Glass again in an attempt to make His vocals more Extreme. Now here’s the ironic thing to simple DISPROVE THIS RUMOR all You have to do is look at the aforementioned Silencer Photo’s. You can clearly see Nattrman’s bare arms (and chest) in the Silencer Photo’s and there isn’t a single Fresh Wound, Healing Wound or Any Scaring all of which would be Blatantly Obvious in the Photos if at that time of Recording Nattramn was in fact Self Harming.

The Third and Final Rumor is that at one point while admitted to the Mental Hospital Nattramn escaped during a Psychotic Break, and attacked a 5 year Old Girl (or Girls depending on the version of the Story) with an Ax. The Rumor stated that Nattramn attacked the Girl/Girls and when the Police arrived tried to commit Suicide By Cop continuing to wield the Ax wildly screaming “KILL ME! KILL ME! KILL ME!”. The Police then allegedly distracted Nattramn with a Police Dog until an Officer could sneak up behind Him, and take Him down with a Night Stick blow to the Head. In Each Version the Little girl or Girls both Live and make full recoveries.

        

The Truth is it was Nattramn’s Older Brother Franklin who escaped the mental Hospital where He was being treated for Schizophrenia. After walking around and picking up an ax along the way Franklin attacked TWO Young Girls, and then started screaming “KILL ME! KILL ME!” until He was subdued. Once Franklin was back at the Mental Hospital and being properly Cared For (AKA Properly Medicated) The Guilt of what He had done, The Fact He had tried to kill a couple of Kids caused Nattramn’s Brother to commit Suicide.

Extras:

 THIS IS NOT NATTRAMN!

There’s an extremely small handful of Photos of Nattramn, but they are all Staged so His face is ALWAYS Hidden from View. There is a Photo bouncing around the Internet of a Young Man that People claimed was the only existing picture of Nattramn where you can actually see His Face. That is WRONG. The photo is a case of mistaken Identity as The Young Man in the Picture is another Black Metal Musician from the Band Frostrike with a similar sounding Name.

       

There is a Website by a Anonymous Collective called Humani Animali Liberati or HAL for Short that is a Self Proclaimed “Religious Theory and Practice Movement” and Publishing Forum of Nattramn. There motto appears to be “You are at the Heart of Non Human Arts”

“HAL should be looked upon as a further expression of Nattramn, not necessarily linked to either Silencer or Diagnose: Lebensgefahr but merely the Works of Nattramn.””

www.humanianimaliliberati.com

Well Thats All I Have and in this case All there is. When it come to Me the Odder it is the More Appealing it is.

Thanks for Reading,

   By Les Sober