For more than three and a half decades, Paul Mazurkiewicz has anchored Cannibal Corpse’s relentless sound with his blistering drumming. In a recent conversation with “Reckless” Rexx Ruger on Pod Scum, Mazurkiewicz opened up about his biggest musical influences and how he’s managed to maintain the physical stamina needed to play extreme metal drums for so long.
“Slayer’s Dave Lombardo is my biggest influence, of course. If it wasn’t for him, I probably wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing. He’s the king of thrash, double bass, and all that,” Mazurkiewicz shared. “As a teenager, hearing him play in the mid-‘80s, obviously I wasn’t playing at that point yet — I wa] just starting out — so that really solidified me wanting to play the way I play today, what he was doing and still is doing.”
Mazurkiewicz didn’t stop there, reflecting on a variety of bands that helped shape his approach to drumming. “All those bands and all those influences we had in the mid-to-late ’80s, going from… heavy metal like Iron Maiden, as it progressed, into bands like Metallica, Slayer, and then the thrash bands of… Kreator and things like that, Dark Angel, that really, really were the forerunners of death metal and what we do in Cannibal Corpse. So, I mean, so many, so many influential bands and drummers back then, but, yeah, Lombardo would be my biggest one.”
Maintaining the stamina to perform extreme metal is no small feat, and Mazurkiewicz reflected on how he’s managed to stay in top form as the years have gone by. “Luckily, I’ve held up pretty good. I’m feeling fairly good for my age. And, Jeez, if anything, there’s a lot of times I think, ‘Man, I’m playing better than I ever have been,’ which is, I guess, a good thing,” he said.
He credits his longevity to a mix of physical discipline and practical adjustments. “You’ve gotta make those tweaks, you’ve gotta make those adjustments. You can’t just rely on young adrenaline and pure fury like you might have done when you were younger. So, you have to kind of maybe try to take care of yourself a little bit more. I mean, it all comes down to the basics. The way I look at it anyways is if you can get good sleep, you stay hydrated, you eat fairly well and you practice, those are the main keys.”
Mazurkiewicz acknowledged that genetics play a role as well, admitting he’s been fortunate to avoid major physical ailments. Still, he emphasized that hard work and consistency are what allow him to keep pushing boundaries. “Knowing if I’m gonna maintain, well, I have to be there working extra hard, harder than I ever have in the past. So as long as I’m doing that, then I think everything’s all right, I suppose.”
The physical demands of drumming for a death metal band like Cannibal Corpse are unparalleled, but Mazurkiewicz embraces the challenge. “The good thing about, I guess, drumming for me, I look at it as, like, well, no matter what, I’m gonna always be playing the way I play at practice or on the road. There’s no half-assing it at practice. You’re playing exactly like you need to be playing on the road. So, as long as you can keep that schedule going and have that consistency, then practice to the road should segue pretty seamlessly.”
