{{Short description|American industrial rock band}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Mankind Is Obsolete | image = | alt = | caption = | image_size = | alias = MKIO | origin = Los Angeles, California, USA | genre = Alternative rock, industrial rock | years_active = 2002–present | label = | associated_acts = Lotus Reign, Hate Dept., Pseudocipher, Christopher Anton, Collide, Dismantled, Kidneythieves, Psyclon Nine, AL1CE | website = http://www.mkio.com/ | current_members = Natasha Cox (2002–)<br/>Jon Siren (2002–)<br/>Gordon Bash (2005–2007)(2008–)<br/>Scott Landes (2006–)<br/>Mark Nurre (2003–2007)(2021–) | past_members = Jamie Roy (2003–2004)<br/>Nathan Trowbridge (2003–2005)<br/>Brian DiDomenico (2005–2008)<br/>Joe D'Ambra (2007–2008) }}
'''Mankind Is Obsolete,''' ('''MKIO''') is a female-fronted industrial rock band, based in Los Angeles, California.
==History==
===Formation and ''Metamorph'' (2001-2004)=== By 2001, Jon Siren had joined Christopher Anton's synthpop band, Pseudocipher,<ref name=pseudanghis>[https://www.angelfire.com/goth2/pseudocipher/history.htm Pseudo History, Pseudocipher, accessed 12/10/2009]</ref> while Natasha Cox and Gordon Bash were members of the group "Lotus Reign".<ref name=autrem>[http://lesautresmondes.info/pages/viewgirl.php?num=685 Les Autres Mondes - Natasha Cox, accessed 12/10/2009] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721220329/http://lesautresmondes.info/pages/viewgirl.php?num=685 |date=2011-07-21 }}</ref> Later, Siren and Cox met at the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles and recognized that they had similar tastes in music after seeing each other wearing the same Sisters of Mercy t-shirts.<ref name=jcurcio07>Curcio, James "Mankind is Obsolete pt. 2", Alterati:The Inside Scoop on the Outside Culture, Sept. 25, 2007 {{cite web|url=http://www.alterati.com/blog/2007/09/mankind-is-obsolete-pt-2/ |title=Mankind is Obsolete (Pt 2) | Alterati: The Inside Scoop on the Outside Culture |accessdate=2010-03-26 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716210658/http://www.alterati.com/blog/2007/09/mankind-is-obsolete-pt-2/ |archivedate=2011-07-16 }}</ref><ref name="gac">Sawyer, Ron, "Mankind is Obsolete: Interview for Girls and Corpses Magazine (courtesy of Livid Looking Glass Magazine)", Girls & Corpses issue No. 9, July 2006 [http://www.girlsandcorpses.com/issue9_mankind.html]</ref> The two played in a jazz band together and in 2002 Cox also joined Pseudocipher.<ref name=pseudobio>[https://www.angelfire.com/goth2/pseudocipher/bios.htm Bios, Pseudocipher, accessed 12/10/2009]</ref>
By the fall of 2002, Cox and Siren had formed Mankind is Obsolete.<ref name=mjones>Jones, Mindy, "Miss Mindy's Music Reviews", Eagle Rock Boulevard Sentinel, Volume VIII, Issue 7, November 2004 {{cite web|url=http://www.boulevardsentinel.com/11-2004.htm |title=Eagle Rock -Northeast Los Angeles News |accessdate=2010-03-26 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100112121541/http://www.boulevardsentinel.com/11-2004.htm |archivedate=2010-01-12 }}</ref> With Cox on keyboards and Siren on drums, they began recording what would become their first EP, ''Metamorph'', without a singer before Natasha stepped up to the role of lead vocalist. Some of the recording was done at the school's facilities, some in Siren's apartment using Pro Tools,<ref name=jcurcio07/> and some in Cox's apartment bedroom.<ref name=regen>Stark, Alison, "Artist Spotlight - Mankind is Obsolete", Regen Magazine, Dec. 9, 2007 {{cite web|url=http://www.regenmag.com/Artist-Spotlight-47-Mankind-is-Obsolete.html |title=Artist Spotlight :: Mankind is Obsolete |accessdate=2010-03-26 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207075513/http://www.regenmag.com/Artist-Spotlight-47-Mankind-is-Obsolete.html |archivedate=2008-12-07 }}</ref> By February 2003, a live band had been assembled adding Jamie Roy on bass, Mark Nurre on guitars and Nathan Trowbridge on keyboards and running the light show.<ref name=mjones/> Additional recording and mixing was done by Steven Seibold of Hate Dept. and Pigface, and ''Metamorph'' was released in August 2003.<ref name=jcurcio07/>
The songs of ''Metamorph'' range from "haunting" and "brooding" for much of the album to the faster-paced, more heavily electronic and more danceable 'Icarus'.<ref name=mjones/> The band toured throughout the west coast and southwest following this album and by late 2004, Roy had left the band.<ref name=mjones/>
===''Rise'' (2004-2006)=== Cox and Siren began working on songs for their first full-length album in 2004<ref name=gaw>Stead, Chris, "Mankind is Obsolete", Gothic Angst Webzine, accessed Jan. 5, 2010 {{cite web |url=http://www.althausmagazine.com/archives/64 |title=Mankind is Obsolete | AltHaus Magazine |accessdate=2010-03-26 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101202224033/http://www.althausmagazine.com/archives/64 |archivedate=2010-12-02 }}</ref> and in early 2005 brought in Bash as the new bassist. Bash also contributed to writing for that album and served as the producer for ''Rise'', with the band recording it in his home studio. For that album, the band tried to capture more of their live feel by combining live acoustic instruments with electronic and programmed ones.<ref name=mjones/> The album has been reviewed as realizing a "mature and lucid vision", which Siren describes as being about "rising above a lot of the battles we were having in our daily lives. It is about seeing the negativity as it is and finding the power within to move past it."<ref name=gaw/>
Following the 2005 tours which included an East Coast foray to Goth Stock, Trowbridge left the band. Brian DiDomenico was brought on as the new keyboardist in late 2005, just in time to appear in the video for 'Still Right Here', released in February 2006.<ref name=cdbrise>[http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/mankind2 Rise, Mankind Is Obsolete, cdbaby, accessed Mar. 25, 2010]</ref> That year saw a full, nine-week,<ref name=regen/> US/Canada tour supporting ''Rise''.<ref name=mjones/> The tour was characterized by performances of such physical intensity that on one occasion Natasha threw out her back on stage and needed emergency room attention following the show.<ref name=gac/> This incarnation of the band saw the creative load spread across the band with all band members contributing to writing new songs 'Awake' (composed for photographer J. Corsentino) and 'Picking at the Scab',<ref name=gac/> both of which would eventually appear on ''Trapped Inside''.
===''Trapped Inside'' (2006-2008)=== In the fall of 2006, Scott Landes of Collide and Babalon joined the band as a second guitarist, initiating the band's brief, six-member incarnation. In the spring of 2007, MKIO lost Nurre and Bash as the band prepared to record their third album with Sylvia Massy and Jim Wood producing at RadioStar Studios in Weed, California. Landes had previously worked with Massy as part of Collide.<ref name=jcurcio07/> He assumed Nurre's guitar duties and they searched for a new bassist for what was shaping up to be a darker album.<ref name=gaw/> Joe D'Ambra joined as the new bassist for the ''Trapped Inside'' sessions and tour. This album was to involve more extensive contributions from all the band members than previous outings. The album was recorded in July and August 2007 and released that September.<ref name=jcurcio07/>
While some reviewers found the album to be their best work to date, with a very different sound than ''Rise'',<ref name=altex>Hunter II, Eric, "Mankind Is Obsolete - Trapped Inside", Alternative Explosion!, Jan. 30, 2008 {{cite web |url=http://alternativeexplosion.com/2008/01/30/mankind-is-obsolete-trapped-inside/ |title=Alternative Explosion! » Mankind is Obsolete – Trapped Inside |accessdate=2010-03-26 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707120318/http://alternativeexplosion.com/2008/01/30/mankind-is-obsolete-trapped-inside/ |archivedate=2011-07-07 }}</ref> others found it entertaining and satisfying, but neither surprising nor progressing much beyond their previous efforts.<ref name="iyregen">Yücel, Ilker, "Reviews Mankind Is Obsolete Trapped Inside", Regen Magazine, Nov. 9, 2007 [http://www.regenmag.com/Reviews-1164-Mankind-is-Obsolete-Trapped-Inside.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208043558/http://www.regenmag.com/Reviews-1164-Mankind-is-Obsolete-Trapped-Inside.html |date=December 8, 2008 }}</ref> A more typical reviewer found the album both a mature and experimental work that is "very rich" and "very organic", alternating between lush and hypnotic and aggressive and pounding.<ref name=reaton>Eaton, Robert, "Mankind Is Obsolete - Trapped Inside", Grave Concerns Ezine, July 29, 2008 {{cite web |url=http://www.graveconcernsezine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2097&Itemid=135 |title=Mankind is Obsolete- Trapped Inside | Industrial | Grave Concerns Ezine |accessdate=2010-03-26 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711123643/http://graveconcernsezine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2097&Itemid=135 |archivedate=2011-07-11 }}</ref>
After ''Trapped Inside'' 's September release, MKIO embarked on a year-long U.S. tour. While prospects of supporting the album with a tour that long contributed to Nurre's and Bash's decisions to leave the band,<ref name=jcurcio07/> Bash was able to return in March 2008 when D'Ambra decided to leave. D'Ambra parted amicably after eight months with the band, including six months of heavy touring.<ref name="mjregen">Johnson, Matthew, "Mankind Is Obsolete Announces Remix Contest, New Bassist", Regen Magazine, March 4, 2008 [http://www.regenmag.com/News-3585-Mankind-Is-Obsolete.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081208043553/http://www.regenmag.com/News-3585-Mankind-Is-Obsolete.html |date=December 8, 2008 }}</ref> A few months later, near the end of the tour, DiDomenico also parted ways with the band. As the tour wound down in August, they played the Warped Tour.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Aug 09, 2008: Vans Warped Tour 2008 at The Gorge Amphitheatre George, Washington, United States {{!}} Concert Archives |url=https://www.concertarchives.org/concerts/vans-warped-tour-2008-8c278e86-2dbf-47be-a80f-56991ec8defb |access-date=2025-09-15 |website=www.concertarchives.org}} </ref>
===Outside endeavors=== Following the ''Rise'' tours, band members have occasionally performed with other bands. DiDomenico and Siren formed the live band for Dismantled in its European appearances surrounding the 2007 Wave-Gotik-Treffen<ref name="vde">van der Ende, Edwin, "Pride and Fall - Amstelveen 2007", Reflections of Darkness - A Dark Music Webzine, June 13, 2007 [http://reflectionsofdarkness.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2061&Itemid=43] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715170344/http://reflectionsofdarkness.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2061&Itemid=43|date=July 15, 2011}}</ref> and Siren continues to drum for them live. Cox contributed to the Ikonoklast album ''The Dawn'' in 2007. After the ''Trapped Inside'' tour, Landes and Siren joined Kidneythieves as part of their live band. In 2009 Siren became the drummer of Psyclon Nine for the recording of ''We the Fallen'' and its associated tour. Siren occasionally drums for his former Pseudocipher bandmate, Christopher Anton's solo project, and also drums with System Syn. Bash is also part of the jazz band "Magnolia Memoir" as well as heads his own eponymous band. Bash, Cox, and Landes debuted the indie/alternative band "Alice" in early 2010. Following their tour with Android Lust in 2010, Landes began playing guitars with that band.<ref name=ALbio>[http://www.androidlust.com/v5/?pg=bio Android Lust - Bio] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110212031617/http://www.androidlust.com/v5/?pg=bio |date=2011-02-12 }}</ref> As of 2011, Cox and Siren have appeared as part of the live band for Adam Moore's indie industrial band, Inure<ref name=comainure>Ward, J., "News: Inure hard at work on new material", COMA Music Magazine, April 13, 2011 {{cite web|url=http://coma-online.com/?p%3D2773 |title=News: Inure hard at work on new material | COMA Music Magazine |accessdate=2011-04-15 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310114430/http://coma-online.com/?p=2773 |archivedate=2012-03-10 }}</ref> and Cox joined Siren for System Syn's appearance at the 2011 Kinetik Festival.
===''Möbius Loop'' (2010- )=== Work on songs for what would become ''Möbius Loop'' began soon after the tour supporting the remix album ''Manic Recession'' in the fall of 2010, with Siren and Landes starting with the instrumentals.<ref name=MKIOFB2010>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/mankindisobsolete |title=Mankind Is Obsolete Facebook Timeline 2010 |website=Facebook |accessdate=2014-05-29}}</ref> Cox's work on lyrics and vocals followed and a version of "Crosshairs" made appearances in live performances in 2011.<ref name=crosshairsYT>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sphWN6lXrqc |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/sphWN6lXrqc |archive-date=2021-12-15 |url-status=live|title=Mankind Is Obsolete "Crosshairs" @Chasers 06-26-11 |website=YouTube |accessdate=2014-05-09}}{{cbignore}}</ref> During the album's preproduction, in 2012, they also were named Virtual Music Ambassadors to Iran,<ref name=embasiran>{{cite web |url=http://iran.usembassy.gov/intromusicamb.html |title=Virtual Embassy of the United States: Tehran Iran; Virtual Ambassadors for Iran |date=2012-03-12 |accessdate=2014-05-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529194425/http://iran.usembassy.gov/intromusicamb.html |archive-date=2014-05-29 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and in June 2012 traveled without Siren to Algeria also under the aegis of a U.S. embassy program, for a ten-day workshop with Algerian bands culminating in a battle of the bands performance.<ref name=embasalger>{{cite web |url=http://algiers.usembassy.gov/mkio_2012.html |title=Embassy of the United States: Algiers, Algeria: U.S. Embassy Algiers Rocks the Casbah and Beyond |date=2012-06-05 |accessdate=2014-05-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529195542/http://algiers.usembassy.gov/mkio_2012.html |archive-date=2014-05-29 |url-status=dead }}</ref> By the end of the summer of 2012, the album appeared to be halfway done.<ref name=trollmystic>{{cite web |url=http://www.trollmystic.com/music/2012/08/30/mankind-is-obsolete/ |title=Mystic Sounds: Mankind Is Obsolete |author=Michael K. Eidson |date=2012-08-30 |accessdate=2014-05-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529224624/http://www.trollmystic.com/music/2012/08/30/mankind-is-obsolete/ |archive-date=2014-05-29 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 2013 saw some additional shows as tracks were laid down for much of the rest of the album.<ref name=MKIOFB>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/mankindisobsolete |title=Mankind Is Obsolete Facebook Timeline 2013 |website=Facebook |accessdate=2014-05-29}}</ref> The album itself was released May 29, 2014 with additional production work and synth tracks by Christopher Jon of Android Lust.<ref name=mobloo>{{cite web |url=http://music.mkio.com/album/mobius-loop |title=Möbius Loop |accessdate=2014-05-29 |archive-date=May 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529221217/http://music.mkio.com/album/mobius-loop |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Discography==
===Albums=== * ''Metamorph'' (EP) (2003) * ''Rise'' (2005) * ''Trapped Inside'' (2007) * ''Möbius Loop'' (2014)
===Remix albums=== * ''Manic Recession'' (2010)
===Compilation appearances=== * ''Livid Looking Glass Compilation No. 1'' (2005, Livid Looking Glass) - "She" * ''Fxxk The Mainstream Vol. 1 Box Set'' (2007, Alfa Matrix) - "Still Right Here" * ''Let There Be Life'' (2008, Live Laugh Love) - "In This Ocean" * ''Pale Blue Dot'' (2011, Synthellec Music) - "Picking at the Scab (Live Mix by Sylvia Massy)"
===Soundtrack appearances=== * ''At Midnight'' (short)(2008) - "Angel Disease"<ref name=AMimdb>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1453951/ At Midnight (2008) - IMDb]</ref> * ''The Virgin Murders'' (2008) - "She"<ref name=tvirmur>[http://www.pollystaffle.com/independent/thevirginmurders.shtml "The Virgin Murders (2008) - PolyStaffle] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130131123930/http://www.pollystaffle.com/independent/thevirginmurders.shtml |date=2013-01-31 }}</ref> * ''Promise'' (2009) - "Prayer", "Troubled Dreams", "Fading"<ref name=promise>[http://www.i5films.com/promise/credits.html Promise - Credits]</ref> * ''Super Undead Doctor Roach'' (short) (2009) - "She", "Lies"<ref name=SUDRimdb>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1500952/soundtrack Super Undead Doctor Roach (2009) - Soundtracks]</ref> * ''Amber Lake'' (2010) * ''Ratline'' (2011) - "Angel Disease", "Passing Through"<ref name=RLimdb>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1336005/soundtrack Ratline (2011)- Soundtracks]</ref> * ''Paranoia'' (2012)<ref name=paranoia>{{cite web |url=http://www.dibpictures.com/paranoia/ |title=Paranoia |accessdate=2014-05-29 |archive-date=December 20, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220173208/http://www.dibpictures.com/paranoia/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Timeline== <timeline> ImageSize = width:800 height:330 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:0 right:50 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:2002 till:01/01/2015 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
Colors = id:Vocal value:red legend:Vocals id:Guitar1 value:green legend:Guitar id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Keyboards value:purple legend:Keyboards id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Albums value:black legend:Albums
Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:2 start:2002 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:2002
LineData = at:09/02/2003 color:black layer:back at:07/06/2005 color:black layer:back at:08/09/2007 color:black layer:back at:08/10/2010 color:black layer:back at:05/29/2014 color:black layer:back
BarData = bar:LVNC1 text:"Natasha Cox" bar:LGMN1 text:"Mark Nurre" bar:LGSL1 text:"Scott Landes" bar:BGJR1 text:"Jamie Roy" bar:BGJA1 text:"Gordon Bash" bar:BGJD1 text:"Joe D’Ambra" bar:KBNT1 text:"Nathan Trowbridge" bar:KBBD1 text:"Brian DiDomenico" bar:PDJS1 text:"Jon Siren"
PlotData = width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:LVNC1 from:01/01/2002 till:01/01/2015 color:Vocal bar:PDJS1 from:01/01/2002 till:01/01/2015 color:Drums bar:LGSL1 from:01/01/2006 till:01/01/2015 color:Guitar1 bar:BGJA1 from:01/01/2005 till:05/15/2007 color:Bass bar:BGJA1 from:03/01/2008 till:01/01/2015 color:Bass bar:LGMN1 from:02/01/2003 till:05/15/2007 color:Guitar1 bar:BGJR1 from:02/01/2003 till:12/01/2004 color:Bass bar:KBNT1 from:02/01/2003 till:11/01/2005 color:Keyboards bar:KBBD1 from:12/01/2005 till:06/15/2008 color:Keyboards bar:BGJD1 from:06/01/2007 till:03/01/2008 color:Bass </timeline>
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==External links== * http://www.mkio.com
{{Authority control}}
Category:Alternative rock groups from California Category:Musical groups established in 2002 Category:American industrial rock musical groups Category:Musical quartets from California Category:2002 establishments in California