Janus is a German musical project led by Dirk "Rig" Riegert and Tobias Hahn. The name comes from Roman

mythology Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

, specifically the god

Janus In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus ( ; ) is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces. The month of January is named for Janus (''Ianu ...

, who ruled over gates and doors.

History

From the beginning, Janus consisted of only two members - Dirk "Rig" Riegert, songwriter and vocalist, and Tobias "Toby" Hahn, programmer and piano player. Throughout their albums Janus has used many guest musicians, up to and including an entire orchestra. Despite positive criticism, the debut album ''Vater'' failed to attract much attention. However, with further releases, Janus gained more popularity within the German alternative scene.

Musical characteristics

The music style of Janus is not easy to define. It can be labeled as

Neue Deutsche Härte (; "New German Hardness", sometimes abbreviated as NDH), also known as dance-metal, is a crossover style drawing from Neue Deutsche Welle, alternative metal, groove metal, electro-industrial and techno. It developed in Germany and Austria d ...

with influences of

drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...

trip hop Trip hop is a musical genre that has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound. The style emerged as a more experimental music, experimental var ...

tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries from a combination of Arge ...

and

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

elements. Like the mythological god, Janus has two faces: aggressive electronic pieces, and ballads with acoustic instruments. In their concerts, Janus is often assisted by guest musicians, who can also be found on the albums, although they are not official members of the band. Janus uses the

German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

to describe such human emotions as hate, despair, insanity, fear, and loss.

Line-up

Members * Dirk "Rig" Riegert - Vocals and lyrics * Tobias "Toby" Hahn - Programming and piano

Discography

Releases

* ????: ''Liebeslieder'' (first demo, under the name Rorschach) * 1995: ''Schlafende Hunde'' (second demo, limited to 25 copies) * 1997: ''Vater Demo'' (self-distributed, limited to 500 copies) * 1998: ''

Vater Vater () means "father" in German. It is also a surname. It may refer to: * Abraham Vater, a German anatomist ** Ampulla of Vater, an anatomic area named after Abraham Vater * VACTERL association, sometimes called VATER syndrome, a group of congen ...

'' * 1999: ''Isaak (MCD)'' * 2000: '' Schlafende Hunde'' (see German Wikipedia article) * 2001: '' Hundstage (EP)'' * 2002: ''Winterreise'' (self-distributed, limited to 500 copies. With German-language covers of

Hallelujah ''Hallelujah'' (; , Modern ) is an interjection from the Hebrew language, used as an expression of gratitude to God. The term is used 24 times in the Tanakh (in the book of Psalms), twice in deuterocanonical books, and four times in the Christ ...

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...

and

Disarm "Disarm" is a song by American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins, written by vocalist and guitarist Billy Corgan. It was the third single from their second album, ''Siamese Dream'' (1993), and became a top-20 hit in Australia, Canada, ...

Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also simply known as Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band formed in Chicago in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha, bassist D'arcy Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. ...

) * 2004: '' Auferstehung'' * 2004: ''Kleine Ängste'' (only available on the limited edition of ''Auferstehung'', inspired by the German version of the Little Fears RPG) * 2004: ''Kleine Ängste'' (spoken word, self-distributed and limited to 666 copies) * 2005: ''Live Bootleg DVD'' (self-distributed, limited to 400 copies. Footage from a concert in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

) * 2005: ''Nachtmahr'' * 2005: ''Die Alpträume des Herrn Riegert'' (spoken word, only available on the limited edition of ''Nachtmahr'') * 2005: ''Live Bootleg DVD'' (self-distributed, limited to 400 copies. Footage from a concert in

Koblenz Koblenz ( , , ; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz'') is a German city on the banks of the Rhine (Middle Rhine) and the Moselle, a multinational tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman military p ...

) * 2006: ''Vater Deluxe'' (self-distributed re-release of the first album ''Vater'' and bonus tracks from the ''Vater Demo'') * 2014: ''Schlafende Hunde Deluxe'' (self-distributed re-release of the album ''Schlafende Hunde'' and bonus tracks from the ''Hundstage EP'') * 2017: ''Ein Schwacher Trost''

Compilation appearances

* Touched By The Hand Of Goth Volume IV – ''Saitenspiel'' * Nachtschwärmer 3 – ''Rorschach'' * Mondenblut 1 – ''Gescheitert'' * Sonic Seducer Cold Hands Seduction Vol. XVII – ''Was uns zerbricht'' * Dark Roses - 36 Mystic And Electropop Romantics – ''Isaak (Single Edit)'' * Leichenschrei - Trisol Bible Chapter 2 - ''Kleine Ängste'' * Orkus Presents The Best Of 2004 (Part 2) – ''Paulas Spiel'' * Orkus Presents The Best Of 2005 - ''Grabenkrieg''

External links

Official website (German)

English fansite

Official Janus MySpace
(in German) German musical groups Musical groups established in 1995 {{Germany-band-stub