Paul Mazurkiewicz of Cannibal Corpse sat down with ‘Reckless’ Rexx Ruger of Pod Scum for an interview and credited Slayer’s Dave Lombardo for his career.
“Slayer’s Dave Lombardo is my biggest influence, of course,” the drummer said when asked about his biggest musical influences. “If it wasn’t for him, I probably wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing.”
He further talked about Lombardo, “He’s the king of thrash, double bass and all that, so as a teenager, hearing him play in the mid-’80s, obviously I wasn’t playing at that point yet — I [was] just starting out — so that really solidified me wanting to play the way I play today, what he was doing and still is doing.”
“But all those bands and all those influences we had in the mid-to-late ’80s, going from, I guess, any of the 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,” Paul stated.
The musician concluded his words, saying, “So, I mean, so many, so many influential bands and drummers back then, but, yeah, Lombardo would be my biggest one.”
Lombardo also has some inspirations who influenced him by their playing. “I think it was natural. I was already implementing those patterns with my legs or my feet. I was a big fan of Iron Maiden’s early works,” he told Revolver last year about his double bass playing.
He continued, “Clive Burr was a big influence, and the drum beat for ‘Phantom of the Opera’ where he was using the high hat, but the bass drum was his high hat. Then I heard ‘Overkill’ by Motörhead and I was blown away. That affirmed my trajectory: I wanted to go into a double-bass drumming style.”
Mazurkiewicz will be playing with Cannibal Corpse next year on their North American tour. It will start on March 28 in Quebec City, Canada.
