CANNIBAL CORPSE Drummer Says 'It's A Complete Compliment' Being Called The 'MOTÖRHEAD Of Death Metal'

In a new interview with the "Metal Mayhem" podcast, CANNIBAL CORPSE drummer and founding member Paul Mazurkiewicz was asked if he takes it as a compliment when his band is referred to as the "MOTÖRHEAD of death metal," as was the case in a recent review in the U.K. magazine Kerrang! He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I totally take it as a compliment. Because you get what you get; when you're gonna listen to CANNIBAL CORPSE, you're gonna buy a new record, you know what you're getting. There's gonna be no second guessing; there's gonna be no, 'Oh, I wonder what they're gonna… Is it gonna sound like this?' Because so many bands have done that in the past.

"We're being ourselves," he continued. "We're not being anybody else. We're playing CANNIBAL CORPSE music for ourselves and we're staying true to ourselves. And I know the fans, of course, over the years, have come to understand that and to rely on us, to know what they're gonna get. They don't have to worry that, 'Oh my gosh. What are the gonna do? Are they gonna start having clean vocals?' or whatever. It's, like, no. It's gonna be CANNIBAL CORPSE. That's what you're gonna get. So I totally take that as a compliment.

"The other one we always hear, and that's a major compliment… If you're gonna be put in the same sentence with bands like MOTÖRHEAD… I mean, those are legendary bands, of course," Paul added. "Or we always hear we're the AC/DC of death metal — kind of the same thing. There you go — AC/DC was AC/DC; they weren't anybody else. They weren't trying to be anybody else. They were AC/DC; you know what you're getting.

"To hear those phrases and comparisons like that, it's a complete compliment," he repeated. "And that's what we're going for, man — we've gotta be CANNIBAL CORPSE until the end. That's just the way it is."

CANNIBAL CORPSE's 15th studio album, "Violence Unimagined", was released in April 2021 via Metal Blade Records. Erik Rutan, one of the death metal's most acclaimed guitarists who is known for his time as part of MORBID ANGEL throughout the '90s and early 2000s, as well as handling vocals/guitars for HATE ETERNAL, lent his guitar as well as production skills to the effort, which was recorded at his Mana Recording in St. Petersburg, Florida. Rutan previously produced four CANNIBAL CORPSE albums (in addition to "Violence Unimagined"),alongside the likes of GOATWHORE, SOILENT GREEN and BELPHEGOR. Filling in live on guitar since 2019, in 2020 he became a full member, contributing to the writing process.