Hymn of the darkness

This edition of Deadtown is a special one. The true legend of extreme violence and emotional sounds Jensen will celebrate his 25 years in the business. And so, the perfect moment to ask him some stuff about his years of the special artist he is.

Welcome to this interview Jensen. First, how would you introduce yourself?

There is really not too much to say about me, I'm just an underground-music bedroom producer-dude, occasional gamer (No Man's Sky) and owner of fluffy rabbits, lol.

How did you get involved in the extreme hardcore scene?

My hardcore-techno journey started in 1994 with one single track from B C Kid: "Wild And Wonderful", so the guys at Shockwave-Recordings are really to blame, damn you! When I first heard this track, I was blown away. Never had heard anything like it before, it changed my entire perspective on electronic music.

Tracks from that time, like "Summer" from Sorcerer, "The End of the Beginning" from DJ Gizmo and the legendary "The First Rebirth" from Jones and Stephenson, really cemented it for me.

How do you come up with the music you make? What inspires you?

Well, although I owe my musical journey in a very large part to the hardcore movement from the early to mid 90's, another very important part is owed to black metal. I used to hate music with guitars at the time, but a friend gave me a tape with some black and death metal songs and ones again, the totally unexpected speed and aggression of that music simply blew me away.

There was frankly nothing in hardcore techno at the time that could compete with the sheer tempo of those tunes. Until I was introduced to speedcore, which bridged that gap. USN, of course, but especially the legendary Terrordrome CD's with tracks like "Weichcore" from Bakalla shaped my direction. Black metal bands like Emperor, Samael, Limbonic Art and yes, also Dimmu Borgir have corrupted me.

However, there is another layer, and that is, as you may have guessed, movie and game scores. The one movie soundtrack that is to blame for most of it, is the score for the second Hellraiser movie. Man, those choirs, unholy cow! And then, years and years later, but still equally influential was the score for Skyrim. Those drawn out, epic but at the same time melancholic tracks really did a number on me.

And here I was just, lets combine all of those things into one single sound and see if it can work. Crazy, right? Well, I leave you to judge the result :-)

What’s the difference between Jensen and Human End?

Oh dear, well... there used to be a much bigger difference than it feels like these days. You see, I started back then as Jensen with straight industrial hardcore on labels like Industrial Strength, Black Monolith, Bastard Loud, etc. But my music became faster and faster, until there was not really a point in releasing on those labels anymore.

Human End was born as a tiny side-project, where I would produce 3 full length albums, to actually test my hypotheses of making "symphonic black metal-speedcore". At some point, I realized, that the Human End tunes actually worked much better at parties than the Jensen stuff, and there seemed to be more demand from the audience for me to play them. But the promoters booked me as Jensen, simply, because it was a much more established name. So the two projects mashed more and more together.

Today, I think the main difference is, the Jensen tracks and releases are thematically rooted in more real world stuff, like Requiem processed a loss, Space Symphonies discussed big-bang related science and Symphonien der Dystopie look at sociological and theological topics.

Human End, on the other hand, is really out there, with big fantasy and science fiction themes, intermingling often with ancient history and horror. Human End probably is also a bit more epic than Jensen stuff, generally speaking. But to be honest, often even I don't really know anymore, lol.

What made you decide to start making music yourself 25 years ago?

As far back as I can remember, it's what I always wanted to do. When I watch a movie, or a series, or play a game, often the music is more important to me than the actual visuals and story. I instantly get triggered, by some insignificant bit of background score, and the many musical ideas I get from that moment. I really can't help it, so I just embrace it. That was the case 25+ years ago, and it still is the case today.

What has changed over all these years?

Well I guess my palette of inspirations has grown bigger over the years, of course. But to be honest, at least from my perspective, nothing really has changed. I would hope that my production skills have improved over the years cuff, but I leave that judgment up to the audience.

People might miss my older sounds, and I understand that. But I often have very little time to make music because of real-life stuff, so when I do, I usually have so many ideas, that I postpone making retro-style music. At some point I will make some legacy Jensen stuff again, I promise :-)

What do you think is the most important thing in good music?

For me, emotions and moments. I almost never have heard a track or song that was perfect, from beginning to end. In most cases, there is that one single moment, where I go like holy shit, what was that? And I get goosebumps. Those moments, I remember to this day and they have and will continue to shape my sound.

You've been to many Speedcore Italia events, what makes these parties unique to you?

From the very beginning, the Speedcore Italia family has invited and welcomed me with respect and friendship and this has not changed in 10 years of knowing the SCI gang. This, in my opinion, has reflected in their parties, and the people visiting those parties, and it is a testament to the whole scene around Speedcore Italia, that this is still the case. The SCI parties are simply great fun. Mikroport in Krefeld is also the perfect location for them.

If you were to give advice to beginning producers, what would you recommend?

Ooof, every person is different, has different dreams and goals. The one single thing I would say is, follow your instincts, don't let other people put you into a category. Do your thing and do it 100%, without compromises, and your music will shine!

I would like to say, that there is a wave of artists emerging lately, whit tremendous talent and a unique vision and I am very happy to see this. Keep up the great work!

What does the next 25 years look like for you, ideally?

Well, hopefully I will be able to become better in my craft and I hope I will not stagnate. Music is my no. 1 passion and I will do it as long as I can.

Why should someone come to the upcoming Deadtown edition?

It is Deadtown, it is in one of the best clubs that I know, there is a stacked line-up and I'm looking forward seeing all you maniacs there! Nuff said :-)

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

I would like to thank all the amazing people I have met in the last 25 years in this small but amazing scene. Thank you for all the friendship, hospitality and inspiration. All the experiences that would never have happened to me without this music and this scene, all the countries and places I have visited, all the sometimes mad and frankly unreal stories I was part of (me and Bonehead lost in Moscow :-D) I am very very grateful for all of this, thank you!

And thank you Jensen for this interview. Don't miss out on his anniversary at Deadtown 16 on the 3rd of October 2026.