Melissa Cross: the secret ingredient to your favorite band

By David McNally

​Meet Melissa Cross. She’s probably worked with all of your favorite bands, and I mean ALL of them. Cross is a classically trained vocalist turned vocal coach, specializing in hardcore metal.
 
From bands like Bullet For My Valentine, Lamb of God, Of Mice & Men, Movements, to Slipknot, the list is endless. 

“I love the sincerity of the music. It’s so non-tainted by the media, and crap, and money, and it’s just so real. It’s just straight from the heart.” 

​In a special interview with Vice, Melissa said she got started in the scene  “because a friend of mine was recording, not punk, it was called “hardcore,” and it was metal” says Cross. “And he couldn’t get them through a recording session without them coughing blood.”
 
Enthralled by the sincerity of the metal scene, Cross acknowledges the potential damage to the structure of vocal folds caused by harsh vocals. “There is a risk to using your voice on a daily basis an unhealthy way. The vocal folds – they used to be called chords, now they’re called folds – they get scarred.”
 
“[Metal is] so non-tainted by the media, and crap, and money, and it’s just so real. It’s just straight from the heart.”
 
“Melissa Cross is a legend in this music scene. I mean she’s the only vocal coach that actually cared about metal and did something about it, and wanted to make sure people aren’t fucking themselves up for life” says Caleb Shomo of Beartooth as a testament to Cross’ methods.