Cannibal Corpse drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz credits renowned metal band Slayer, specifically drummer Dave Lombardo, as his biggest influence in an interview with Pod Scum, according to Metal Injection. 

When asked about people who influenced him the most in his instrumental style, he attributed it to Lombardo. “If it wasn’t for him, I probably wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing,” said Mazurkievicz. 

He continued by explaining before he even began playing he chose extreme metal from hearing Lombardo’s music among other bands and artists. 

“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,” Mazurkiewicz said. 

He also listed other inspirations, “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, Death Angel, that really were the forerunners of death metal.”

Numerous times in the interview, Mazurkiewicz was asked questions pertaining to his age and where he’s at health wise. He responded, “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 … You can’t just rely on young adrenaline and just 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 so. 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.”

Despite Cannibal Corpse going on tour with Meshuggah starting in March 2025, Mazurkiewicz was honest on his thoughts of touring at his age. 

“I would be lying if I said yeah I love it, I want to live on the road. I mean, no, you know, I’ve done it. I mean, that’s just part of the job, obviously. We do this and there’s no other way around it. I imagine [if] there was a way around it we would avoid it we probably would at this point,” he said.