Janus

There is more than one artist with this name.

  1. Janus is a German band consisting of two main members, Dirk ‘RIG’ Riegert and Tobias ‘Toby’ Hahn. They got their name from the Roman god Janus, who has two faces, so he is connected to conflicting nature. He is the god of beginning and end, doorway and gateway. That is characteristic for the band, on one hand their music is electrical andvery aggressive, on the other hand it is made smooth with classical instruments. RIG is the creative head, the singer and songwriter of their lyrics which are in only German. Toby makes most of the music. As a perfect piano-player he is also responsible for the remixes. Of course there are some other helping members, first of all for their live performances. The style of the music is not easy to define. Derived from their name the two faces aspect in their music is omnipresent. It is most associated with the gothic- and electro-scene but it also has a huge bunch of classical music parts. However the main focus is laying on their texts which tell about hate, mourning, despair, madness and all the fears living in most of us.

  2. Janus is a Chicago based rock band who have released two albums; Armor (2004) and Red Right Return (2008/2009). The band recently signed a record deal with ILG, and will release their first single and video for their track “Eyesore” in August of 2009. Janus brings a fresh new sound to the genre of metal. Inspired by forging their own voice and among a sea of sound-a-likes, Janus has carved ten flawlessly flowing tracks into their new album: Red Right Return. To be released on September 22 2009, the new album owns a broad range of dynamics and instruments not often used in the metal genre to produce a sound of melodic, ethereal backdrops grounded in aggressive, heavy rhythms. “Red Right Return” symbolizes the process of getting back to basics and not focusing on trends or anything in the industry, but on the music itself. Lyrically the record reflects the human condition from both an inward and outward point of view leaving the listener to draw their own reflections.

  3. Janus were a UK band who had much more success in Germany than in their home country. Hard rock was the name of the game, and it is exemplified perfectly in the opening track to their sole 1972 album. ‘Red Sun’ is the song that prompted me to get the album after I heard it on a compilation tape some years ago. Guitars crash and the vocals soar to deliver a classic hard rock song, with a guitar solo every bit as good as the song deserves. After that opening it was always going to be hard to follow it, and while ‘Bubbles’ valiantly makes an effort, ‘Watcha’ Trying To Do?’ just does not seem to fit in with the rest of the album, being much too light-hearted for a band with a skeleton on their album sleeve. Their piece de resistance, however, is saved for side two, which is totally taken up with the title track. They throw everything they can think of into the mix - flamenco guitar, orchestras, seagulls, and spooky lyrics all combine to produce a magnificent end to the album. But that is not all, as on the CD re-issue you also get a drastically re-worked - even heavier version - of ‘Red Sun’ along with three other previously un-issued tracks, stretching the album to almost twice its original length. It has often been remarked that it is a mystery why this band were not much bigger here in the UK, but whatever the reason at least we can now hear what Germany has long already known - Janus were a great heavy rock band.

  4. Janus were an italian progressive rock band formed in 1975 but they released only an Ep in 1977, and it is one of the rare examples of progressive rock in right wing movement. After some changes in the line-up (guitarist Stefano Recchioni was killed during a political riot in 1978) they release in 1978 “Al Maestrale”, in 1980 “Pescatore di sogni part I & II” and in 1981 “Note per un amico (A Stefano) Danza dei lupi”

  5. Janus also was a short-lived Finnish progressive rock band, formed by Maarit and Sami Hurmerinta. They released their only single record “Hyvää matkaa/Huono juttu” year 1976.

  6. Janus or DJ Janus is an upcoming hardcore DJ/Producer from Holland. Mostly intrested in Artcore, UK and Early Rave. His main influences are Ruffneck and Ophidian.

Source: http://www.last.fm/music/Janus/+wiki