Janvs - FVLGVRES (2007)

Born back in 2004 as the solo project of Vinctor, this Italian band has since expanded into a three piece, releasing their debut in 2004 and now following up that well received record with, ‘FVLGVRES’ in 2007.

With possible comparisons to Drudkh, Helrunar, and early Ulver material, Janvs offers up quite a show with their sophomore effort. The music is a sort of epic melodic black metal with ample usage of acoustics for a more melancholic sound and keyboards for a darkened atmosphere plus full lyrics in their native tongue gives it the authentic Italian feel. The music also has a sort of progressive quality to it as the music often shifts between brutal parts and more melodic sections and also sometimes into purely acoustic or ambient territories. You’ll also notice that the percussion is well done as it’s never full on blasting, but rather diverse the whole way and even sort of martial sounding at times. Though a big difference compared to Drudkh or Ulver would be that the recording is recorded rather pristine like with even enough room for the bass guitar to be heard.

Due to the bands progressive qualities it makes the album flow rather nicely. It offers the fare balance of brutal parts and easier to digest melodic sections for the timid, and although the acoustic and ambient parts are somewhat repetitive at times it invokes a sort of dreamy hazy feeling I much enjoy. As for favorites, I’d definitely have to point to the lengthy instrumental, ‘Vesper’ or the title track, which features guest vocals from Spite Extreme Wings main man. However the album as a whole is considerably well done and definitely well deserving of your attention.

Although perhaps not the most original thing to be heard, FVLGVRES is still one of the finer black metal releases unleashed in 2007, and with that said I definitely look forward to hearing more from this band, especially the follow-up, 'Vega,' which is said to be considerably engaging.