Monumentum were formed in Milan in mid 1987 by guitarist Roberto Mammarella and bassist Anthony Duman, who recruited vocalistMark Westfall and drummer Mox Cristadoro. Between December 1988 and April 1989, the bandrecorded 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 Greekblack metal bandRotting Christ in 1991. Following a brief split, Monumentum were picked up by the predominantly black metalNorwegian label Deathlike Silence Productions. However, before the proposed album could be released, DSP owner Øystein Aarseth was murdered, leaving the band label-less. The album, In Absentia Christi, recorded and mixed between August 1994 and May 1995, 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 and Francesca Nicoli, alongside Mammarella, Mox Cristadoro and Paolo Mauri. 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. Activity from the band became sparse until reuniting to record "The Colour of Compassion" for Misanthropy's anti-censorship compilationPresumed Guilty ; the line-up for this consisted of Mammarella, Cristadoro, Federico Simonetta and Daniele Bovo. Further compilation appearances included the Death SStribute albumBeyond the Realm of Death SS, to which Monumentum contributed a cover of "Black & Violet". Line-up for this appearance consisted of Mammarella, Cristadoro, Bovo, Max Vaccaro and Jesuis Qui ; the latter is Cornelius Brastad of Solefald. 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 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.
