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

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

, specifically the 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 ...

, 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 Neue Deutsche Härte (; "new German hardness"), sometimes abbreviated as NDH, is a subgenre of rock music that developed in Germany and Austria during the early-to-mid 1990s and during the early 2000s. Alluding to the style of Neue Deutsche Well ...

with influences of

drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with "downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop ...

, tango 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 languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...

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 cong ...

'' * 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'' ( ; he, ''haləlū-Yāh'', meaning "praise Yah") is an interjection used as an expression of gratitude to God. The term is used 24 times in the Hebrew Bible (in the book of Psalms), twice in deuterocanonical books, and four tim ...

by Leonard Cohen and

Disarm "Disarm" is a song by American alternative rock band the Smashing Pumpkins. It was the third single from their second album, ''Siamese Dream'' (1993), and became a top-20 hit in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom despite being banned in ...

Smashing Pumpkins Smash may refer to: People * Smash (wrestler) (born 1959), professional wrestler * Moondog Rex, another professional wrestler who briefly wrestled as the original Smash, before being replaced by the above. * DJ Smash, DJ and music producer Art, ...

) * 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 German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

) * 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''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...

) * 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