Hi Jens, congratulation for the stunning album "The Omega Rising", which got 9/10 points - that is really rare for a pure black metal CD in our mag. How were other reactions so far?

Jens Ryden:   Well, thank you very much. Of course, I appreciate every good word about the album, but I also have to point out that reviews are not that important for me. You know, I write this music because that's the kind of music I want to hear myself. These are the songs I want to hear. I'm convinced that this way is the only genuine way to write music. You see, the day a band start listening to requests, opinions or feedback from reviews, record labels or even fans, I believe that the soul and integrity of the band or artist is lost. The only way to be totally genuine is to write the music you believe in, and not to write the music someone else want you to write. For me, a positive review is more like a sign that I'm not alone with this taste in music, and a negative review is just a proof that everybody doesn't share the same taste. Sure, if an album gets all bad reviews, there's probably a point in there of course, that maybe the songwriting or performance could have been improved or whatever... But in general, a review is just the opinion of one person, and it's much of a coincidense if the album hits the right or wrong writer of a magazine. But to answer the question: Yes, the main part of reviews has been very good, but lately I've also read a bunch of crappy reviews as well. So, all in all, I guess it's kind of a normal situation.

  Please introduce yourself to our readers - who is the person behind PROFUNDI, known as Jens Ryden, at home in private life?

Jens Ryden:   I guess my private life isn't that special... but that's probably the point with this question anyway, to get below the 'image' of PROFUNDI. Anyway, I'm 30 years old now, starting to get a fuckin' old bastard and live together with my girlfriend in Tyresö, which is a suburb to Stockholm (the capital of Sweden). During the weeks I work as an art director at the magazine FHM (I think there is a german edition of FHM as well). I have two main interests that I keep spending my time with at my spare time and that's music and graphic design. Luckily, with PROFUNDI I'm able to combine both of these interests with one single project.

  After your personal details let's talk about the musician Jens Ryden. You made a one-man-show: it's your composing, your guitars, your keys, your drums, your vocals. And everything in an excellent way. So, you really needed no help at all to record these songs?

Jens Ryden:   No, I did everything myself. I did this another solo album under the name DEAD SILENT SLUMBER some years ago and even back then I did much of the stuff myself... and this was something that triggered and inspired me, but I found it also a bit annoying that there still were some parts I couldn't handle myself. So, when I worked with this PROFUNDI-album I wanted to raise this do-it-yourself level a couple of steps, and as the work progressed I kept raising that bar even more. Sometimes I thought like "hey, it would be interesting to do the XXXXX (whatever) myself... hey, let's try it out!". Often it's about finding a way that fits you and your abilities, as drums for example. I can't play drums and I most probably never will... but I wanted some really intense drumming on the album. So... the way I found was to program the drums with a computer, but to do it with such an effort put into the programming and the production and mixing that it would sound equally good as in my mind. So, for me it became a task of learn how to master drum programming and sound engineering techniques to get the result I wanted to. And I've been interested in audio recording for some time and I have this complete home studio that, of course, made the entire recording much easier compared to hire an ordinary recording studio. Most things are actually possible to do on your own, there are remote controls for lots of stuff... so it's absolutely possible to record vocals and hit the rec-button at the same time.

  You go some steps further than other solo projects: you produced your album yourself I assume, and you do all the artwork. Even a postscript font called "Profundi" was created and is available for download. I must ask you: how much fucking time do you have for your project?

Jens Ryden:   Actually, I'd like to rephrase the question to: How much time are you ready to spend to reach your visions and goals? Of course, I've spent countless of hours for this release, but that's been worth every second. I've released albums in the past you know and I got to a point where a new release didn't feel that special anymore. You know, it's not as exciting to walk the same road twice. So, with PROFUNDI I have some of these personal goals, or whatever you'd want to call it, to get some fresh experience and more soul into every release. ...and as you already mentioned, to take things one step further. You know, releasing solo albums is nothing unique today. But to take this do-it-yourself thing one step further, I believe, has made this album a bit more special. ...at least more special for myself. Yes, I know that creating a font is a bit extreme in a way, but again, it's nothing I've seen before in the metal scene. But, I was studying during the production of this album, and since I study graphic design I learned a lot about in depth typography and basicly got all necessary basic information to create a font. ...and later on I had trouble with finding a font that would fit with the style and atmosphere of the artwork, and of course, then it hit me: "Why don't I create my own font?". So, in this case it was a combination of practising my studies and to get a good font for the album design. I mean, this is basicly what I was talking about... If I would have used an existing font instead I would have saved countless of hours to finish the album, but for me it became a task a really wanted to accomplish. And the satisfaction I got in return when I got the stuff all together in the end is more valuable than to get the album out as fast as possible.

  There must be things you can't do yourself. Please tell us three abilities which don't belong to you, and for which you would call for outer help. And be honest....

Jens Ryden:   1. Record label. The ultimate do-it-yourself aspect that is missing for me is to actually release the album myself too. But, this would have been far too time consuming for me, and I guess it wouldn't had turned out very well either... but who knows, maybe this is something I'll fullfill in the future. 2. Music video. Although a music video for PROFUNDI is very unlikely to happen... Motion video is something I'm not very good at. I know the basics and I basicly might be able to handle the graphic ideas necessary. But to pull of an entire music video project is far too complex and advanced for me to do myself, at least if I want it to be as professional as I'd like. 3. Advanced 3D-design. I've chosen to concentrate on graphic design, which makes it very hard to keep up any decent skills in 3D-technology, even though I'd like to.

  I think you have a musical background in other extreme metal bands. Which instruments did you perform in earlier band days, and what were the reasons to leave these band things behind you: musical ones, or personal ones?

Jens Ryden:   Previously I've done mainly vocals, but also some guitars and other stuff. When I decided to concentrate harder on my studies in graphic design, I also moved to a different part of Sweden and at the same time quit the band. And afterwards I realized that it was the right decision to do because about the same time it came clear to me that I had completely new goals and visions I wanted to accomplish. Mainly stuff that I simply couldn't do in a band... So, all this in combination gave result into the birth of PROFUNDI and what it has become today.

  Are you happy with the results on "Omega..."? And are you tired a bit subsequently, or do you feel the fire inside and new ideas for the next work?

Jens Ryden:   Yes, I'm very satisfied with the result. Basically, this is the result of all the efforts I've put into this release, all time I've spent with polishing every tiny detail from the first tone to the last second. Normally, with all previous recordings I've appeared on, I've always found stuff afterwards that I've not been completely satisfied with. You know, details (small or big) that simply could have been done better. This time though, I had the option to spend as much time as I wanted to myself, everything's been up to me only and therefore I've been able to detect all small errors and fix it in time. The result... well, over several hundreds of listenings, I still haven't found a single second I'm not totally satisfied with. And of course, I consider this to be my best recording and strongest material ever. Yes, I have ideas for new material. But even though I'm quite eager to start working with those, I still ain't completely finished with "The Omega Rising". I still have interviews, some artwork and license releases to take care of before it's time to move on. After all, I got to give this album all the focus and attention from myself as it deserves.

  What do you think about the possibility to present "Omega..." live on stage with guest musicians - or don't you like live gigs?

Jens Ryden:   I have no plans to perform live with PROFUNDI. I rather spend the time on writing new material instead. I've already done great live shows in the past, so I don't see that much challenge and interest in live shows as it is right now. Instead I rather concentrate on the goals and visions I have for PROFUNDI at the moment.

  The album is very extreme, and I'd like to compare it with "MARDUK with heavy classic influences", because you use some very melodic elements, MARDUK wouldn't play. Is it important to you to play black metal not only aggressive, but on a high variety of musical standards?

Jens Ryden:   This is the music I want to hear myself, this is my vision of how extreme metal shall sound. I don't compare myself and my music with other artists, but of course there are some similarities to other bands... as well as differences too. For me, it's about writing intense songs the way I like it, and something I find important is in fact variety. Slow parts makes the fast stuff sound even more intense, and vice versa, the fast stuff makes the slower parts even more powerful. The harmonies makes the dissonant riffing even more vicious and so on. I've worked pretty hard with the songwriting, I have polished every transition between every riff, tweaked every break, and replaced every weak second until that song got to such a level when I considered it complete and impossible to improve further. I can't understand some people who uses the phrase "that sounds good enough" or "that should do it". No, I think that's just excuses for lazyness and lack of enthusiasm and perfection.

  Which artists are your musical influences?

Jens Ryden:   None in particular. ...or at least none in the metal business. I rather seek inspiration and get ideas from totally different types of music, details that can be converted into the extreme metal that PROFUNDI represents. It can be everything from movie scores, orchestral arrangements or even electronical music. The style itself doesn't really matter actually, the important point is that the ideas are good, and if so it's possible to transform it into any kind of music style.

  Is there a typical black metal ideology like satanism behind PROFUNDI, or are you more driven by a musical vision?

Jens Ryden:   I consider myself as a musician. Sure, I have my ideological and religious standpoints that of course is a part of PROFUNDI. But if I'd want to affect peoples opinions, I'd rather choose to go for a carreer in politics or whatever than to release albums with lyrics that few can't hear anyway. I share many of all these traditional black metal thoughts and standpoints, and I don't think it's necessary in any way to just repeat things that already has been said hundreds of time already. So, I rather focus on the music and that's what I find important and special with PROFUNDI.

  Please finish this sentence: "PROFUNDI stands for ......"

Jens Ryden:   ...a genuine impact of insanity and fury.

  Thank you very much for this interview!

Jens Ryden:   Thanks. Your effort and dedication to PROFUNDI and to the scene is highly appreciated and will not be forgotten.