Culture
Paul Mazurkiewicz discusses Cannibal Corpse’s new album, the endurance of death metal, and the creative brutality of the band
By: Nicholas Kobe
Posted on:
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (WOUB) – Founded in 1988, Cannibal Corpse has remained one of the most consistent, cutting edge and brutal death metal bands to ever exist.
The name “Cannibal Corpse” is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to pushing the limits of what grotesque scenes can be described in music. This has solidified the band as one of the most controversial in the metal world, while endearing them to their dedicated fans. They also have become known for the iconic growls of both of their frontman Chris Barnes, who performed on classic albums like Tomb of the Mutilated and George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher, who’s iconic headbanging and guttural voice have led Cannibal Corpse from their fifth album forward.
The blistering solos, heavy riffs and pounding rhythm section is quintessential death metal and basically the best anyone can ask for. With albums such as 2021’s Violence Unimagined and 2023’s Chaos Horrific, the band is still charging ahead at full speed, as brilliant, consistent and brutal as ever.
WOUB’s Nicholas Kobe spoke with drummer and founding member Paul Mazurkiewicz ahead of the band’s show at Old Forester’s Paristown Hall (724 Brent Street) Saturday. The band is co-headlining with black metal legends, Mayhem with support from Gorguts and Blood Incantation.
Find an edited and condensed transcript of that conversation below.
If you had to describe Cannibal Corpse in one sentence, what would you say?
Paul Mazurkiewicz:
Oh, just brutal death metal. The epitome of brutal death metal, I suppose. That’s what we’ve always wanted to do and we feel that we’re still doing that and that just sums it up, I believe.
Nicholas Kobe:
What about your approach to making brutal death metal has changed and what’s kind of stayed the same?
Paul Mazurkiewicz:
Well, I mean it’s going to vary over years. I mean, you grow with experience of course, and you grow as musicians and songwriters and all that. I believe we have throughout our whole career. I think everything kind of stays the same in the mental aspect of it. Just, “Hey, we want to write brutal death metal songs”, but your creative tendencies are going to be a little bit different as you go. So I’d say we kept it the same for the most part other than little nuances, little subtle things. I think it’s apparent if you listen to say our first album compared to our new album, and you listen to everything in between. It’s all Cannibal Corpse.
There’s no denying that but there’s also no denying that there’s going to be some subtle differences as you go, some progressions and complexities of maybe song structure or rifts or some different kind of beats or some slower songs. I think it’s just a matter of experience and you grow as, like I said, as a musician and as a songwriter. But always the main thing that we try to achieve and I believe we do achieve is just play brutal death metal. That’s what we do and what we’ve been doing our whole career.
Nicholas Kobe:
What keeps you guys coming back to the genre and staying passionate about exploring it this long?
Paul Mazurkiewicz:
I mean this is what we wanted to do. I think we were very adamant. Obviously starting in the thrash era because of when we grew up in the eighties and all that, and then death metal coming into play in the late eighties. When we were forming, we’re growing with this whole music scene. This is the music that Cannibal Corpse is and this is what we wanted to do from day one. We never obviously wanted to change. Cannibal Corpse is going to be what it is. It’s going to be brutal death metal, and if we weren’t going to be this, we’d have to be a different band and we don’t want that. We want to stay true to what we started back in the ’80s. It just keeps us going, keeps us motivated. Of course when you have a fan base and they keep supporting you.
Nicholas Kobe:
Awesome. But you guys are currently on tour with Mayhem, considering you guys are one of the biggest death metal bands and Mayhem is one of the biggest black metal bands – what’s kind of that crossover been like for both you as bands and also from what you can tell from the audience?
Paul Mazurkiewicz:
It’s been great. I mean, we’re still early on this tour. It’s not that it’s a very long tour, but I think we’re a few shows in now and it’s been amazing. The shows we’ve done have been sellouts, I think the biggest shows we’ve played in a lot of these markets are really a big positive. When you can bring exactly like you were saying, two of the biggest bands in our respective genres and albeit it’s all extreme metal, so that’s good. I mean I think it meshes well. Then you have Gorguts and Blood Incantation on the bill. What a great bill. I think everybody that’s into extreme music will want to see this show. Everybody’s just having a great time getting along. The fans seem to enjoy the whole package, just having a great night. It’s been a big, big, big positive.
Nicholas Kobe:
What’s your guys’ history with Mayhem as a band?
Paul Mazurkiewicz:
Really none. We never really did anything with ’em ever. I know Eric Rutan, our guitar player, I believe he toured with them with Hate Eternal, his own band. That’s still happening that he’s been doing for years. I know Eric had a little bit of knowledge and just been around them before and did some touring with them, but we never have. So kind of cool that it finally can come together with both bands being as legendary as we are, I suppose. It’s really cool to finally come together to have a tour like this. So yeah, we never really crossed paths ourselves as Cannibal Corpse with them so this is really cool that it finally is happening.
Nicholas Kobe:
Absolutely. The other big thing for you guys is obviously a week ago from today at the time that we are recording this, you guys put out your newest studio album, Chaos Horrific. What was your favorite memory from the process of creating that album?
Paul Mazurkiewicz:
It’s kind of business as usual these days. I mean, when we go in to start writing, it’s always a great time and it’s always great to do it, but it’s not like the old days when we were going to the Elk Ranch in El Paso when everything’s new and fresh. So I don’t know if there’s anything that really stands out more than anything at this point other than just the fact that we wrote and recorded the record soon after we did Violence Unimagined.
I mean obviously we put this album out two years after. It’s a little sooner than normal, and that was all pandemic related. We might as well utilize our time since we’re just kind of home at that point and you didn’t know what was going to happen. When we start writing songs and we record these days, it’s nothing new, but that would be the one that kind of makes it a little different and the thing that I think is going to be remembered most for this session.
Nicholas Kobe:
Would you say that recording those two records so close together, was that something that in the long run you think was good for the band?
Paul Mazurkiewicz:
Oh, totally. When you’re just sitting around doing nothing, then why not utilize this time? I mean, we got ahead of the game. I think it was beneficial because in a normal sense, We did have to delay the release of Violence Unimagined. So you’re going, “well, what do we do with this time?” At that point, when you’re starting to write Chaos Horrific, you’re in the middle of the pandemic. You didn’t know when the touring was even going to commence. Luckily it started, when it did, but you didn’t know at that point, so why not utilize this downtime that you had? So I think it’s totally beneficial to get new material out and to get a new record out.
It’s a little sooner than normal, but two years is two years and I think that’s okay. I mean still Violence Unimagined might be still technically a little fresh in that sense, but nothing wrong with having another record out of 10 killer songs that the fans I think are going to appreciate and enjoy, totally beneficial. Otherwise we would’ve waited hypothetically and then we’d probably be in that process right now, if you’re looking at, is it the first tour for the cycle for Chaos Horrific. That last tour we just did in the last six months ago, the European run that we did with Dark Funeral, that would’ve been the end of the cycle [for Violence Unimagined] and we’d be probably recording right now. We’d be in that process of writing and recording, and then there’s another lull. So we figured you have to maximize our time and this was the best way to do it.
Nicholas Kobe:
Definitely well said. So when you guys sit down to write, how has your inspiration for the brutality and the lyrics changed over the years if it has at all?
Paul Mazurkiewicz:
I don’t know if it really has. If anything, I think maybe it’s just more internal than ever before because we’ve been there, we’ve done that. We’re seasoned veterans in that sense, in the early days you’re still kind of learning and you’re still trying to figure out your style. For me personally, when I look at lyrics that I write these days, compared to say 20 years ago, I really just delve within. I just dive into my imagination more than ever. It’s not like I need to say, “okay, we’re writing a new record. I’m going to write some new lyrics, let me find inspiration.” That inspiration’s really just coming from within at this point, from everything that I’ve absorbed over the years, just coming up with the stories on my own. I mean, we had a brainstorm for some cool song titles and ideas in that regard, but the songs are always stemming from those song titles. It’s like that as opposed to the early days, like I was saying where maybe I would’ve watched more movies or read more stories, or going to gather this information from or this inspiration from. I think everything’s coming from within these days.
Nicholas Kobe:
Do you think that’s just a product of how much you guys have consumed over the years and you just have a bigger reservoir of ideas to just pull from within?
Paul Mazurkiewicz:
Totally. That’s completely it. When we’ve been around this long and we’ve been writing songs this long, it’s not new anymore. We’ve become a creative force on our own, and it’s just pulling it out from within. You’re totally correct.
Alright. Do you think, looking back on the entire history of Cannibal Corpse discography, is there any record or song you feel is a little underrated?
Paul Mazurkiewicz:
That’s a tough one to answer because we got so many records and they’re all a cherish ’em all. We always give it our 100 percent best at that given time to create, to record. So I don’t know. I would say probably not. When I talk to fans, every now and then you can go, “man, yeah, that song forgot about that one. Oh man, we haven’t played that one live or we never did, or we haven’t played it live in a long time. It’d be kind of cool”, but man, there’s a lot of ’em. I think the good thing with Cannibal Corpse and our discography is that, you ask 16 different fans, they’re going to give you 16 different answers and you’re going to get every album’s going to be someone’s favorite, and same thing with songs.
There’s only so many songs that can be played, obviously live, and how many songs do we have to pull from? And there’s a lot of people that are going to say the same, “oh man, are you playing that? Are you playing that? You’re playing that?” And we’re like, “well, no, unfortunately not.” So I think it’s just good to have a catalog that we have and for the fans to really love all of our work, and there’s not just those one or two albums that are the obvious choices. I mean, that’s good to that people can love the whole catalog and like I said, ask different fans and they’re going to give you different answers, which as opposed to saying, “well, the obvious choice is this album or that album because all the other ones were we didn’t like,” or something like that. It’s tough for me to answer on a personal level though, because I’m proud of everything we’ve done and so much has happened in our career and so many songs have been written, so we’re happy for everything we’ve done.
Nicholas Kobe:
Absolutely. Speaking of the fans, what have you noticed? How has the fanbase changed as you guys have gotten older?
Paul Mazurkiewicz:
Well, I mean, you can’t rely, obviously just on the fans that started out with you. I mean, there’s still a lot here of course, but I mean, I think with anything, you have to keep evolving and have new fans get into you. That’s the good thing about death metal and metal in general. It’s not just the people that grew up with it in the eighties and the nineties. It’s like every day there’s somebody, a new young kid getting into metal and death metal. So for instance, we go to play shows now and you look out in front and you’re going, “wow, this is crazy.” The whole front row is 18-year-old girls – they’re kids for that matter, the teenagers, which is amazing to see. Those are the new fans, of course, and they’re there supporting and they’re there into it.
So I mean, if you didn’t have that and you were relying, like we were just saying, on the old school fans that are better than there from the beginning, you wouldn’t be playing in front of 2000 people or whatever. So it’s good to just keep getting new fans for the young kids, or not even the young kids, maybe, you’re older and you’re finally getting into it. I mean, that’s awesome. So we’re ever evolving in that regard with our fan base and getting new fans into the whole genre, which is huge, of course, huge for the longevity of us and for death, metal or metal or any music in for that matter in general.
Nicholas Kobe:
Absolutely. What’s something that has surprised you about Death Metal and the kind of course it’s taken over the years?
Paul Mazurkiewicz:
I guess just the longevity right there. Who would’ve ever thought heavy music would still be around and be as prominent as it is? I mean, when you start out, it’s such an underground thing, right? Yeah. You’re playing small clubs and you got a couple hundred people, and that’s amazing, right? You’re happy for that because of what you’re playing. You’re playing some pretty obscure stuff. It’s not easy-listening music, it’s not for the masses, but I think society is changing in a sense where more people are accepting it. So I always take, for example, bands like Slipknot, look at what they’re doing for being as heavy as a band they are. Or even Metallica for that matter. When we were growing up listening to Metallica, they were an underground, just brutal heavy band that’s not for everybody.
And now look at ’em, right? So it’s just amazing that extreme music can do what it’s been doing, and I think there’s going to be no end in sight. If anything, it’s just going to keep getting bigger and bigger. I always like to think what’s going to happen beyond our lifetime. I mean, this is all relatively new in the scheme of just pop music and popular music. What’s going to be happening in a hundred years from now, 200 years from now? I mean, who knows? Death model could be just pop music, really music that millions and millions of people are going to be listening to more so than ever. So it’s interesting to think about, but I think there’s no end in sight and it’s just going to keep getting bigger and bigger. So who would’ve ever thought that?
Nicholas Kobe:
Yeah, it seems that that brutality just kind of has a timeless appeal to it.
Paul Mazurkiewicz:
Right? Yeah, I think so. I think so.
Nicholas Kobe:
Absolutely. So I guess I only have one more question before we wrap up, which is what do you think is next, and what do you think is in the future for Cannibal Corpse?
Paul Mazurkiewicz:
That’s a tough one. I mean, we kind of take it day by day. We never looked ahead in any way. Basically you just take it album by album, tour by tour, and then the older we get now, of course, you just never know. I mean, you can’t take anything for granted. We’re still very lucky and happy of course that we’re doing it at this point in our career, at this age. So you really just gotta take it day by day. I mean, there’s no end in sight at this point, but you just never know. Physical things happen and knock on wood, and none of that does. We’re all feeling really good physically and all those things, so just business as usual. I guess we just take it day by day and keep churning out the music and keep playing the shows, and if it ends tomorrow, then we could at least be happy with what we did. It was a long illustrious career and an amazing run. It is and was. But yeah, we don’t think about that. We just keep going and plugging away. That’s pretty much it. So we’ll see how long we can take this machine.