Mike Shinoda Approves of Chester Bennington and Mark Mortonon's 'Cross Off'

Mike Shinoda Approves of Chester Bennington and Mark Mortonon’s ‘Cross Off’

2019-01-15

Story by Charles Ken, photo by Anne Erickson

Mike Shinoda remembers Chester Bennington working on a new, heavy song with Mark Morton and being excited about it

Lamb of God guitarist Mark Morton recently premiered the song “Cross Off” featuring the late, great Chester Bennington, which the Linkin Park frontman recorded before his sudden passing in July 2017. Fans are loving the heavy tune, but what about Bennington’s Linkin Park band mates? The most vocals of those comrades, rapper and multi-instrumentalist Mike Shinoda, says that he remembers Bennington working on the song and being proud of it.

“I remember when Chester played this song for me in his car, almost finished,” Shinoda tweeted. “He was really happy with it. Good stuff, Mark.” He also included a heart and the folded hand praying emoji in the tweet.

As for Morton’s take on the collaboration, he recently commenting that that working on “Cross Off” with Bennington “was a very free-flowing and natural process.”

“We both really loved the song from its inception, and everyone that worked on it put a lot of energy and emotion into it,” he said in a statement. “I feel like you can really hear that in the track, and absolutely in Chester’s performance.”

Speaking with Kerrang!, Morton also stated that Bennington was, “very excited about the idea of screaming and doing something heavier than what (he had) been doing lately.”

“Cross Off” will arrive on Morton’s upcoming solo album, “Anesthetic,” which will hit stores on March 1. The record also features high-profile collaborations with Papa Roach’s Jacoby Shaddix, Alter Bridge frontman and Slash singer Myles Kennedy, Mark Lanegan and Lamb of God singer Randy Blythe.

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Charles Ken

Meet the expert - Charles Ken is a graduate of Michigan State University where he studied writing and history. He's a longtime music buff and covers classic rock for Audio Ink Radio. Contact him at ken@audioinkradio.com.