Paul Mazurkiewicz has been crushing it for Cannibal Corpse since 1988 and he's showing zero signs of slowing down. In a recent interview with The Downbeat Podcast, Mazurkiewicz talked about how he feels he's playing better than he ever has, and how his approach to Cannibal Corpse now is way different than in the early days.
"You know, it's weird because I think I'm actually playing better than I ever have," said Mazurkiewicz as transcribed by Metal Injection. "I think the older you get, you end up using your mind more. You really try to work on your technique more, to be able to do it at this age. I look back when I first started – it was a very primitive, very primal. It wasn't about any technique or anything. It was just about fury and adrenaline and going for it, right? That's all the early Cannibal records were. I think as we got older we're going 'okay, we're getting more intense with our music and it's getting more cerebral' so to say, because some of the songs are starting to get a little more technical and all of that.
"I really worked hard in the last 15 years, trying to refine my drumming to be more effective the older I get. I'm just working on minimizing my movements on the kit and sitting properly and all these kinds of things, so I feel that that has helped me tremendously. I look at my playing now and I feel that I'm arguably playing the best I've ever played."
It's always interesting to hear guys like Mazurkiewicz talk about their approach to extreme metal as they get older. Obviously the genre doesn't get less demanding, and that recent Cannibal Corpse single sure as hell isn't yacht rock, but here we are over 30 years out from Eaten Back To Life and Mazurkiewicz is as furious as ever. Just y'know, a little more responsible.
