It’s not very often you run into some new music that forces you to upgrade your sound system, but that’s exactly what happened to me after my first listen to Janus’ new cd, Nox Aeris. Like most of the population I spend the majority of time listening to music through a pair of semi-decent headphones connected to my phone. It’s definitely not an audiophile’s dream, but lately I’ve become more complacent and the music has been a lot less demanding.

Well, that all changed the first time I heard “Stains”. It wasn’t that I felt I was missing something, I knew it and wasn’t happy about it at all. The sound was clipping all over the place. I refused to listen to it again, streaming from the internet on my tinny laptop speakers, and begged for a copy of the cd so I could take it for a real test drive.

“In Flames” is the first song on the album and it starts out pounding. The bass line and drums had me popping the clutch and speed shifting.

You’ve probably heard the first single, “Stains”, so there’s not much I can tell you that you don’t already know except that it sounds even better with 2-12’s than it does with 1-10 and when it drops the cars around you might panic like a cannon just went off.

“Lifeless” is one of sneaky songs that will leave you doing a double take of your speedometer, but you really need to beware of the blue lights during “Promise To No One”.

“Always Rains” is the slowest song and more of a rock ballad than a hard rock song. It contains symphonic elements that make my heart melt. Think strings, strings, and more strings.

This is the point where I always cut my own throat and ask why you’re reading a review about music instead of just taking it for a listen and finding out for yourself? Nox Aeris pulses, pounds, whispers, screams and thrashes and that’s not even the half of it.

Every song contains some new and different approach and mixes from the best of other genres. As a collection they work well together because they all share a similar dark feel with Scotney’s unique voice weaving various tales throughout. Honestly, I wasn’t really prepared for Nox Aeris the first time I listened to it. Janus has filled it full of surprises that I’ll let you discover for yourself.

Nox Aeris is available now at Best Buy, Amazon and is also on iTunes. You can find out more about Janus at www.janusmusic.com, https://www.facebook.com/janusband or https://twitter.com/#!/janus.

Make sure you catch them at a venue near you!