{{Short description|Italian band}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Monumentum | image = | caption = | image_size = | alias = | origin = Italy | years_active = 1987–present | genre = Doom metal, gothic metal | label = Cursed Land Entertainment, Deathlike Silence, Misanthropy, Moonfog, Necropolis, Obscure Plasma, Tatra | associated_acts = Act Noir, Ataraxia, Canaan, Cultus Sanguine, Darksky, Iconoclast, Maleficarum, Schizo, Sinoath, Thy Sirma, Upcoming Fire, Weltschmerz | website = [https://myspace.com/136214314 Monumentum] on Myspace Official website | current_members = Roberto Mammarella | past_members = }}
'''Monumentum''' (often typeset as '''MonumentuM''') are an Italian gothic metal band formed in 1987 by Roberto Mammarella, founder of Obscure Plasma Records (subsequently Avantgarde Music).
==Biography== Monumentum were formed in Milan in mid 1987 by guitarist Roberto Mammarella and bassist Anthony Duman, who recruited vocalist Mark Westfall and drummer Mox Cristadoro.<ref name=MusicMight>{{cite web |author=Sharpe-Young, Garry |title=Monumentum |url=http://www.musicmight.com/artist/italy/lombardy/milan/monumentum |publisher=MusicMight |accessdate=2009-05-03 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201214824/http://www.musicmight.com/artist/italy/lombardy/milan/monumentum |archivedate=2014-02-01 }}</ref> Between December 1988 and April 1989, the band recorded and mixed the five-song demo ''Musaeum Hermeticum'', which was released as a limited edition cassette of 180 copies.<ref>Necropolis Records reissue liner notes, 1999.</ref> Two tracks, "Nostalgia of the Infinite" and a cover of The Dead Relatives' "Nephtali", were selected by Obscure Plasma Records for a split single with the Greek black metal band Rotting Christ in 1991.
Following a brief split, Monumentum were picked up by the predominantly black metal Norwegian label Deathlike Silence Productions.<ref name=MusicMight/><ref>''Lucifer Rising: Sin, Devil Worship & Rock 'n' Roll'', Gavin Baddeley, {{ISBN|0-85965-280-7}}, p. 193.</ref> However, before the proposed album could be released, DSP owner Øystein Aarseth was murdered, leaving the band without a label. The album, ''In Absentia Christi'', recorded and mixed between August 1994 and May 1995,<ref>''In Absentia Christi'' liner notes, Misanthropy Records, 1995.</ref> finally saw the light of day through the British label Misanthropy Records. The recording line-up featured two vocalists, in the form of Andrea Zanetti (of Italian act Iconoclast) and Francesca Nicoli (of Ataraxia), alongside Mammarella ("strings, keys and vibas"), Mox Cristadoro (drums) and Paolo Mauri ("samples, artistic production and wisdom"). The band claimed the album was influenced by the poets Iginio Ugo Tarchetti and Giacomo Leopardi, and included a cover of "Fade to Grey" by Visage.
''In Absentia Christi'' received a score of 4 out of 6 from Norway's ''Scream''. The reviewer confirmed that the record was indeed "monumental", and should be listened to in a single sitting. The melodies were "strange" and "magical".<ref>{{cite magazine|title=MONUMENTUM "In Absentia Christi"|last=Nørsterud|first=Bjørn|year=1995|magazine=Scream|issue=26|page=29|language=no|type=review}}</ref>
Activity from the band became sparse until reuniting to record "The Colour of Compassion" for Misanthropy's anti-censorship compilation ''Presumed Guilty'' (1998); the line-up for this consisted of Mammarella, Cristadoro, Federico Simonetta (bass) and Daniele Bovo (keyboards). Further compilation appearances included the Death SS tribute album ''Beyond the Realm of Death SS'', to which Monumentum contributed a cover of "Black & Violet". The line-up for this appearance consisted of Mammarella, Cristadoro, Bovo, Max Vaccaro (bass) and Jesuis Qui (vocals);<ref>''Beyond the Realm of Death SS'' liner notes.</ref> the latter is Cornelius Jakhelln of Solefald.<ref name=MusicMight/>
Monumentum reunited in 2001 to record ''Ad Nauseam'' for Tatra Productions. The line-up had changed again; ''Ad Nauseam'' featured Mammarella, Andrea Bellucci on keyboards, Daniele Bovo on guitar and keyboards, Andrea Stefanelli (of Nuvula Neshua) and Alis Francesca Bos on vocals, Diego Danelli on bass and Elisa Carrera on drums, although the latter had to pull out midway through recording after getting pregnant.<ref name=MusicMight/>
==Line-up==
===Current line-up=== * Roberto Mammarella (vocals, guitar)
===Former members=== * Andrea Bellucci (keyboards) * Alis Francesca Bos (session vocals) * Daniele Bovo (guitar, keyboards) * Elisa Carrera (drums) * Mox Cristadoro (drums) * Diego Danelli (session bass) * Anthony Duman (bass) * Cornelius Jakhelln (vocals) * Paolo Mauri (samples, bass, engineering, mixing and artistic production) * Francesca Nicoli (of Ataraxia; session vocals) * Federico Simonetta (bass) * Andrea Stefanelli (vocals) * Mark Westfall (vocals) * Andrea Zanetti (of Iconoclast; session vocals) * Max Vaccaro (bass)
==Discography== * ''Musaeum Hermeticum'' (demo, 1989; re-released by Necropolis Records in 1999) * ''Rotting Christ / Monumentum'' (split with Rotting Christ, Obscure Plasma Records, 1991) * ''In Absentia Christi'' (Misanthropy Records, 1995)<ref>[https://www.rockhard.de/reviews/monumentum-in-absentia-christi Review] at ''Rock Hard'' {{in lang|de}}</ref> * ''Ad Nauseam'' (Tatra Productions, 2002)<ref>[https://www.rockhard.de/reviews/monumentum-ad-nauseam Review] at ''Rock Hard'' {{in lang|de}}</ref> * ''Metastasi'' (compilation, Cursed Land Entertainment, 2004)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110714192833/http://www.nordicvisionmag.com/articles/monumentum1.htm Interview with Roberto Mammarella for Nordic Vision magazine, 1993] * [http://www.doom-metal.com/interviews.php?entry=1017 Interview with Roberto Mammarella @ Doom-Metal.com] * [http://www.nonpop.de/nonpop/index.php?mkey=Monumentum---In-Absentia-Christi&type=review&area=1&p=articles&id=1127 Review] at Nonpop.de {{in lang|de}}
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Category:Italian gothic metal musical groups Category:Italian black metal musical groups Category:Musical groups established in 1987