Origin:	Italy
Genres:	Eclectic Metal

Last update/review:	July 25, 2003

MonumentuM

MonumentuM was formed in 1987 by Roberto Mammarella and Anthony Duman, with the intent to create dark music inspired by the likes of Celtic Frost and Christian Death. A demo was recorded in 1990 but the band broke up soon afterward, with Mammarella recruiting a new lineup in 1994 and a year later releasing In Absentia Christi. Resembing a horror movie soundtrack more than a proper rock/metal album, Christi is nonetheless an excellent display of dark, foreboding, gloomy music, with a wide range of musical styles on display (metal being only a part of their sound). Even at the time both band and album were fairly unknown, and following the release the band was even less in the spotlight. Finally, in 2001, Mammarella presented yet another completely different lineup to record Ad Nauseum a year later, an album that, according to reports, is even less conventional in terms of rock/metal music, instead delving into gloomy ambient themes.

Mammarella is also apparently the leader of the doom/goth band Cultus Sanguine, though that band's similarly low profile makes this difficult to confirm.