| ENTER THE GALLERY OF SUICIDE! |
| This is an interview Evan Williams & I did with Paul Mazurkiewicz, drummer for CANNIBAL CORPSE. This interview appeared in the 3rd issue of SATAN'S CANDY BASKET that came out back in late 1998. Read on & enjoy!!! |
| CANNIBAL CORPSE HAS BEEN AROUND FOR SO MANY YEARS NOW & I'M SURE YOU'VE BEEN ASKED THIS QUESTION A LOT, BUT SINCE THIS IS OUR FIRST INTERVIEW WITH YOU GUYS, COULD YOU GIVE A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BAND? We started the band back in 1988, actually it was the end of '88, cause the end of this year will be our 10th anniversary as a band together. We put out one demo in '89 & the next thing we knew we found ourselves signed to METAL BLADE. We released "EATEN BACK TO LIFE" in '90, "BUTCHERED AT BIRTH" in '91, "TOMB OF THE MUTILATED" in '92, "HAMMER SMASHED FACE" in '93, "THE BLEEDING" in '94. After the release of "THE BLEEDING" we had to let Chris Barnes go. Then we got George "Corpsegrinder" on vocals. We then released "VILE" in '96 "MONOLITH OF DEATH TOUR LIVE"(video) in '97 & now "GALLERY OF SUICIDE" in '98. CANNIBAL CORPSE HAS INFLUENCED SO MANY BANDS IN THE DEATH METAL SCENE TODAY, WHO OR WHAT INFLUENCES CANNIBAL CORPSE? Well, basically the music we grew up listening to. You know, like all Heavy Metal in general. We listened to a lot of Metal, the more heavier stuff like JUDAS PRIEST, BLACK SABBATH, IRON MAIDEN & METALLICA. That's when Metal was progressing into Thrash & then into Death. Plus we were all into horror movies & gore, that's where the influences with the lyrices comes in. IS THE NAME CANNIBAL CORPSE JUST FOR THE SHOCK VALUE OR IS THERE ANOTHER REASON BEHIND THE NAME? Well, we wanted something to kind of shock, but more of something that would stick. We just kind of put two words together & they seemed to flow good. It kinda rolls off the tongue well. It's a name you won't forget! HOW WOULD YOU FEEL ABOUT ME NOT ASKING ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT CHRIS BARNES? It would be great if you didn't ask any questions about Chris Barnes! You can if you'd like, but I'd rather not talk about that. Chris is in our past & we've moved on from that. I'm sure people will always ask about Chris, but we have George now & a new release so we have moved forward & have progressed. WE FIGURED YOU'VE ANSWERED ENOUGH QUESTIONS ABOUT CHRIS, SO I THREW THAT IN AS A JOKE! Yeah, that's cool as a joke, but if you wanted to you could. I'm glad it was a joke though! IN ALL THE YEARS THAT CANNIBAL HAS BEEN AROUND YOU PLAYED DRUMS IN THE BAND THE WHOLE TIME. DO YOU PLAY ANY OTHER INSTRUMENTS & HOW DID YOU GET INTO DRUMMER? ARE YOU SELF TAUGHT? Yeah, I basically only play drums & have all this time in the band. I used to play guitar when I was younger, like I don't know, about 10 or 11. I took lessons & everything. I wasn't sure what I wanted to play yet, then I got into drums a little later. My uncle always played & my older brother played too. Since he was into bands I was into, I kind of learned from him. We grew up listening to the same kind of Heavy music. I actually wrote some of the riffs for some of the older material in the band, which most people don't know. Yes, I am totally self taught in the drumming aspect, I took formal guitar lessons, but I never took any formal drum lessons. Actually, when I got on the drums for the 1st time I could actually hold a rythm. Some people get on the drums & can't even hold a beat. I knew I could do it, so it was just a matter of practicing & all that stuff. The fact that I was into this Heavy Metal & it was getting more intense & crazy & there wasn't really much of a formal teaching in this style. I was making stuff up as I was going along too. I was doing my own thing. If it was right to me that's all that mattered. I just wanted to do my own thing & that's what I did. So, I basically self-taught myself. I did a lot of listening & experimenting & there you go. HAVE YOU BEEN IN ANY OTHER BANDS BEFORE CANNIBAL CORPSE? There's a band called TYRANT SIN from Buffalo that I was in with Bob Rossay & Chris Barnes was in a band also. That was kind of the band that we got together out of high school where everyone is friends & we started playing our instruments together. So we made a few demo tapes & we played in the local Buffalo scene. That was it. When the band basically broke up, it was a few months later that CANNIBAL CORPSE formed. THE BAND IS ORIGINALLY FROM THE BUFFALO NEW YORK AREA, WHEN & WHY THE TRANSITION TO FLORIDA? It was about 4 years ago & for the most part we wnated a change. We were making a living off the band & we could live where ever we wanted to live. The fact that the studio is down here in Tampa, The weather was nicer. Just a bigger city in general with more going on. So, it was cool to get a fresh change & to get away from the snow. I guess that's the reason behind it! THIS IS ONLY YOUR 2ND RELEASE WITH GEORGE, HOW HAS THE RESPONSE BEEN FOR THE LAST ALBUM & HOW DO YOU THINK IT WILL BE FOR THIS ONE? Well, the response was great! I think a lot of people at first were not knowing what to expect because of the change. Finally, once the album was released everybody kind of gave that sigh of relief of good they're still brutal, they're still CANNIBAL CORPSE. Once we finally got on the road & proved to the people that George is a killer front man & the man fro us & that with him we are only going to be stronger. We did set out to do that & we did accomplish that. So now that people have gotten the taste of "VILE" & heard the new stuff, they'll see that it's a lot fuller. It's better for George in that I think he had more time to work on the vocals. As to where when he was brought on to do "VILE" in the middle of the recording process so I think he sounds a lot better on this record & I think the people are going to be more accepting of it. |
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