Monumentum (often typeset as MonumentuM) are an Italian

gothic metal Gothic metal (or goth metal) is a fusion genre combining the aggression of heavy metal music, heavy metal with the dark atmospheres of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different ...

band formed in 1987 by Roberto Mammarella, founder of Obscure Plasma Records (subsequently

Avantgarde Music Avantgarde Music is an Italian record label, formed as a continuation of Obscure Plasma Records, focusing on black and doom metal artists. The label had a sub-label called Wounded Love Records, which has released albums by Dolorian and Taake. A ...

Biography

Monumentum were formed in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

in mid 1987 by

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

ist Roberto Mammarella and

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

Anthony Duman, who recruited

vocalist Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

Mark Westfall and

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

Mox Cristadoro. 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. 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 Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with tr ...

band

Rotting Christ Rotting Christ is a Greek black metal band formed in 1987. They are noted for being one of the first black metal bands within this region, as well as a premier act within the European underground metal scene. They are also responsible for creat ...

in 1991. Following a brief split, Monumentum were picked up by the predominantly black metal Norwegian label

Deathlike Silence Productions Deathlike Silence Productions (DSP) was a Norwegian independent record label founded in Oslo in 1987 (initially as Posercorpse Music) that focused on black metal. DSP supported the Norwegian black metal scene in the early 1990s. Helvete was th ...

. However, before the proposed album could be released, DSP owner

Øystein Aarseth Øystein Aarseth (22 March 1968 – 10 August 1993), better known by his stage name Euronymous, was a Norwegian musician and a founder of and central figure in the early Norwegian black metal scene. He was a co-founder and guitarist of the No ...

was murdered, leaving the band without a label. The album, ''In Absentia Christi'', recorded and mixed between August 1994 and May 1995, finally saw the light of day through the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

label

Misanthropy Records Misanthropy Records was a British heavy metal record label. History The label was founded in 1993 by Tiziana Stupia, originally solely to release an album by Burzum. The background to the founding of the company was that after Varg Vikernes ...

. The recording line-up featured two vocalists, in the form of Andrea Zanetti (of Italian act Iconoclast) and Francesca Nicoli (of

Ataraxia In Ancient Greek philosophy, ( Greek: , from indicating negation or absence and with the abstract noun suffix ), generally translated as , , , or , is a lucid state of robust equanimity characterized by ongoing freedom from distress and wo ...

), 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 Iginio (or Igino) Ugo Tarchetti (; 29 June 1839 – 25 March 1869) was an Italian author, poet, and journalist of the first generation of Lombard line. Long forgotten by Italian literary critics, Tarchetti's work is undergoing critical reapp ...

and

Giacomo Leopardi Count Giacomo Taldegardo Francesco di Sales Saverio Pietro Leopardi (29 June 1798 – 14 June 1837) was an Italian philosopher, poet, essayist, and philologist. Considered the greatest Italian poet of the 19th century and one of the greatest a ...

, and included a cover of " Fade to Grey" by Visage. 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 Death SS (later also intended as a contraction of In Death of Steve Sylvester) is an Italian heavy metal band formed in 1977. They have sometimes been described as "horror metal". History Death SS was formed in 1977 in Pesaro by Steve Sylveste ...

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);''Beyond the Realm of Death SS'' liner notes. the latter is Cornelius Brastad of

Solefald Solefald is a Norwegian avant-garde metal/black metal band that was formed by members Lars Are "Lazare" Nedland and Cornelius Jakhelln in August 1995, with Nedland singing and playing keyboard/synthesizer/piano and drums, and Jakhelln singing ...

. 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.

Line-up

Current line-up

* Roberto Mammarella (

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

)

Former members

* Andrea Bellucci ( keyboards) * Alis Francesca Bos (session vocals) * Daniele Bovo (guitar, keyboards) * Elisa Carrera (

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

) * Mox Cristadoro (drums) * Diego Danelli (session

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

) * Anthony Duman (bass) * Paolo Mauri (samples, bass, engineering, mixing and artistic production) * Francesca Nicoli (of

; 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

, Obscure Plasma Records, 1991) * ''In Absentia Christi'' (

, 1995) * ''Ad Nauseam'' ( Tatra Productions, 2002) * ''Metastasi'' (compilation, Cursed Land Entertainment, 2004)

References

External links

Interview with Roberto Mammarella for Nordic Vision magazine, 1993

Interview with Roberto Mammarella @ Doom-Metal.com
{{Authority control Italian gothic metal musical groups Italian black metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1987