Mark Cross played drums for Helloween, Kingdom Come, Spitfire, Valanos and Metalium. In July 2004 he joins Winter's Bane, replacing drummer Haan Hartmann. Cross performs on the band's upcoming album, to be released later in 2004. An official press release states:

"Mark's stellar drumming will add a new dimension to the Winters Bane sound, propelling their new songs to greater heights."

With Mark Cross and vocalist Alexander Koch (ex-Powergod) joining founding members Lou St. Paul (guitars) and Dennis Hayes (bass), Winter Bane's lineup is completed again.



Full Biography:

Born in London, England the 2nd of August 1965, father English and mother German, Mark Cross grew up in a musical environment. Both his parents loved classical music, jazz, rock, the blues and used to hit the club scene in London in the 60’s.



No wonder, one day he gained a pair of sticks by a family friend and started bashings tubs and cans and messed up the kitchen. The washing detergent boxes had the perfect shape of a drum and weren’t thrown away anymore. Instead of asking for rollers or bicycles, Mark Cross was much more concerned about the development of the washing powder department in the neighborhoods store! After his parents had separated, his mom moved back to Germany because of her mothers suffering from MS. Mark's musical interest continued. His mom had the heart for Jazz and his went Rock’n Roll. The early innovating years in the seventies introduced stunning bands like Deep Purple, the Beatles, the Stones, Sweet, Zeppelin, Rush and Kiss, who changed his life forever and I’m sure, many other musicians too.



But trouble was on the way! As he grew up, he didn’t get along with his step father and ended up on the streets, where he made new friends and caused nothing but trouble. They lived in an industrial area and its environment was not the friendliest neighborhood!

For a second time, his mother had to make a serious decision and moved with him to Greece in 1976, to change environment and get Mark Cross off the streets. Greece was different and that helped to ease Marks anger. He attended the German school in Athens and graduated in 1983.



In 1979 he got his first drum kit and took lessons and mounted speakers on the wall banging along to his favorite bands like Rush, Deep Purple and Rainbow. In the early eighties he discovered Kansas, Whitesnake, Aerosmith, Billy Cobham, Buddy Rich, Thin Lizzy, Van Halen, Mötley Crüe, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Queensryche and the amazing Toto.

The Dead Kennedys and the UK Subs ended up in the closet! The only albums that remained were from the Sex Pistols. What a change!



Life went on and he started playing in high school bands and gigs. That's how he made a lot of friends with whom he shared the same musical interests in the following years. The northern and southern suburbs of Athens were the highlight spots of entertainment and had plenty of pubs and live clubs everywhere. Since there were the American Air Bases in the North and the South, the places were filled with Americans and gave that little Sunset strip feeling on a muggy night! There he had the opportunity to play live and made sure not to miss a single evening out! It was paradise!



In 1985 he was offered to record the drums on a soundtrack and attended his first professional recording, which was composed by Dimitri Papadimitriou, a Greek pianist and composer.

Soon more offers for studio work followed and his reputation grew. That was the starting point of his career. Scraptown, who were a known club band at the time, had just released their 3rd album’s single Viva Sahara, which climbed the charts in southern Europe. They asked him to join the band for several concerts in France and the promotion of their album “Give me a break” in 1986.



He was young, yet inexperienced, but very creative and wanted to see the world. After he’d spent 3 months at the French Rivera with Scraptown and had made some money, he didn’t bother going back to Greece, but took the first plane to England and Germany to visit family and friends and explore the local music scene. But having lost ground and contacts in both countries over the years, disappointed he returned to Greece to make a new start and get a band together, since Scraptown parted their ways. It was in the mid eighties and he was dreaming of being in a successful band he could tour with, but he was definitely in the wrong country and environment! The military bases had shut and everyone with little rock'n roll sense had left the country.



The situation had changed and he started working as a session musician on tours and productions for local artists, as a part time engineer in studios and in night clubs as a DJ or bar tender to pay the bills…..“Music has no frontiers, that way I learned how to play different styles over the years. I always gave them a certain touch and made them comfortable for my play. I believe that that taught me the freedom and understanding in my approach to music. …..I love it when it grooves and also when it's fast and wild. You can add that aggression to any style.”



With Magna Carta in 1989/90, Mark Cross had his first record deal and release. High pitched vocals on progressive tunes had some attention. Unfortunately the label forced them to record the lyrics in Greek, because they had no intention in promoting it outside of Greece, though singer John Patelis, with Canadian origin, had already recorded half the album in English. Soon this situation ended their career and was never heard from again, only left a good reputation behind! But his (as he calls it)…… “The good time philosophy will keep you from drowning….”attitude, always made him look forward and survive in difficult times. In 1990-1991 he worked with Greek top star Anna Vissi, toured with her all over and completed over 150 shows in two years.



Late 1991 he formed Bad Habit, a glam-rock combo with a guy called Vance Reese from San Francisco, California, who danced for various Greek pop artists, but had the convincing attitude of a great singer and performer……… “We changed his name to Vinnie de Sade. That should answer all questions!” …….Sex and Rock’n Roll toured the clubs on the islands in Greece in the summer and recorded some of their material but never got signed. Vance moved to Sweden, then to England and opened the known hangout "Cafe Blue" in Bournemouth. Mark and the rest of the band joined Greek pop singer Mike Rakintzis on a project with Deep Purple’s frontman Ian Gillan in 1993, released an album and played several concerts.



t seemed that the good times were definitely gone, because the next few years Mark experienced a flow in his career which led him into different directions from his interests and made his life not easy as a musician. He tried out the US in 1994, stayed a while in Los Angeles and New York, returned to Greece and built the recording studio Magna Carta in Athens in 1995. He closed the company early 2000.



During this period he had joined a Bar Business on the island Skopelos in Greece for two summer seasons, tried to put Greece’s best known Metal act Spitfire back on their feet in 1997, but nothing really seemed to work out, except investing a lot and earning less!



How things can change! Markc Cross had the industries attention again, when he showed up in Hamburg, Germany and recorded Nightfall’s “Diva Futura” late 1998 which was released through Holy records spring 1999. ……..“I didn’t really know the result of me playing with a death metal band, but it was the best offer at the time! However they wanted to change their style to gothic. I had no idea what that was, but simply agreed doing it. The result speaks for itself!” JP Genkel, (Metalium, Lacrimosa, Cradle of filth, Seven Witches) who produced and engineered “Diva Futura”, was convinced by Mark’s playing abilities and recommended him to German metal band Metalium. So in 1999 Mark moved to Hamburg and met the right people at the right time. Lenny Wolf’s Kingdom Come – “Too” was the next step in Mark’s career, which was released in May 2000.



At the end of 1999 Mark Cross received the offer to join Metalium and recorded the drums on “State of triumph – Chapter II”, toured and stayed with them for 1 ½ years. He also features in the “Metalium Attacks” DVD & 6 track live bonus CD and appears on two live bonus tracks on their last album “Hero Nation”. Further he recorded with Metalium the tracks “Ride the sky” on the Helloween tribute “The Keepers of Jericho” released by Arise Metal Records, “Thank you for the music” on the Abba tribute and “Another peace of meat” on the Scorpions tribute, released by Nuclear Blast in 2000.



In the summer of 2001 German power metallers Helloween approached Mark and made sure to get him in the band. As Weikath and Markus claim…. “He’s not only a nice guy to hang out and drink beer with, but a good drummer who fits in our family!”



When Cross deaparted from Metalium, he was followed up by Michael Ehre.



“Bon Scott once said: It’s a long way to the top, if you wanna Rock’n Roll……very true, he was absolutely right! I couldn’t imagine myself doing something else, although there were moments when I felt like kissing show biz goodbye and start something else. I thank those who kept me away from these thoughts and truly believed in me! As we entered the new Millennium, I am proud to say that I am still having a lot of fun in making music and playing the drums! Peace on earth, stay off drugs, make as many friends as you can, play and play better, have fun and get laid, enjoy life and you will be the one who’ll make the next generation swing! If you're a drummer, and you believe in your abilities, never give up and your time might be just around the corner.”



(Text by Terry Mavredes, 2002, via www.mcross.com)



In February 2005 German/Swedish metal act At Vance announced the addition of Mark to the group's ranks, replacing Jürgen Lucas and session drummer Franco Zuccaroli. Later in 2005 Greek band Firewind announced the addition of Mark Cross as their new drummer, replacing Stian Kristoffersen.