Janvs is a

progressive black metal Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified guitar-driven sound of the former with the more experimental, cerebral ...

band from Genova,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. The band take their name from the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

god

Janus In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus ( ; la, Ianvs ) 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 Janu ...

. They're known for using a Latin style of spelling in their band name and song/album names by replacing the letter "U" with the letter "V" (hence how Janus is spelled Janvs instead).

History

Janvs began in 2004 with Matteo Barelli on vocals/guitar, Claudio Fogliato on bass, and Francesco La Rosa on drums. They released their debut album ''

Nigredo In alchemy, nigredo, or blackness, means putrefaction or decomposition. Many alchemists believed that as a first step in the pathway to the philosopher's stone, all alchemical ingredients had to be cleansed and cooked extensively to a uniform blac ...

'' on September 1, 2004, limited to a hand-numbered 88 total copies. Their next album didn't come until 2007, entitled '' Fvlgvres'', the album is a concept album about "the shattering of human limits and condition, upon the longing and the temporary conquest of real moments of awareness and contact with the peaks of transcendence." The band released a song called "Pietas I" on a sampler called ''B.M.I.A. Compilation''. In 2008 the band's original drummer, Francesco, left the group. He has since been replaced by respected Italian drummer Massimo Altomare (m:A Fog), making Janvs one of the many musical projects he has become a part of. The band has also been covered in well-known metal magazines, such as '' Terrorizer'' (even having a controversy with each other) and ''

Decibel The decibel (symbol: dB) is a relative unit of measurement equal to one tenth of a bel (B). It expresses the ratio of two values of a power or root-power quantity on a logarithmic scale. Two signals whose levels differ by one decibel have a po ...

''. They have been described as being musically akin to bands such as

Ulver Ulver (Norwegian for "wolves") is a Norwegian experimental electronica band founded in 1993, by vocalist Kristoffer Rygg. Their early works, such as debut album '' Bergtatt'', were categorised as folklore-influenced black metal, but the band h ...

Members

Current members

*Matteo "Vinctor" Barelli –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, programming *Claudio "Malphas" Fogliato –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

* Massimo "m:A Fog" Altomare –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Former members

*Francesco La Rosa – drums, keyboards, samples

Discography

*''

'' (2004; reissued in 2014) *'' Fvlgvres'' (2007) *''

Vega Vega is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Lyra. It has the Bayer designation α Lyrae, which is Latinised to Alpha Lyrae and abbreviated Alpha Lyr or α Lyr. This star is relatively close at only from the Sun, an ...

'' (2008)

References

External links

Official websiteOfficial MySpace pageATMF record label website
{{Authority control Italian progressive metal musical groups Italian black metal musical groups Post-metal musical groups