# Paul Mazurkiewicz's Drum Setup on Cannibal Corpse's Bloodthirst (1999)

> Complete drum gear breakdown for Cannibal Corpse's Bloodthirst (1999). Paul Mazurkiewicz's evolving Pearl setup, Colin Richardson's UK production at Skyclad Recording, George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher's second CC album, and the record that established the Fisher-era sound.

**Type:** Album Drum Setup
**Drummer(s):** [Paul Mazurkiewicz](/llms/drummers/paul-mazurkiewicz.md)
**Band / Album:** Cannibal Corpse — *Bloodthirst* (1999)
**Genre:** Death Metal
**Label:** Metal Blade Records
**Studio:** Skyclad Recording, Burton-on-Trent, UK
**Producer:** Colin Richardson

## Overview

Released on October 19, 1999 through Metal Blade Records, Cannibal Corpse's sixth album "Bloodthirst" is widely considered the record where the George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher lineup fully established its identity. Fisher had joined the band in 1995 and appeared on Vile (1996) and Gallery of Suicide (1998) before "Bloodthirst" — but it was this album that critics and fans identify as the moment the Fisher-era CC sound locked in: technically precise, brutally heavy, and built on a rhythmic foundation that emerged stronger after the departure of original vocalist Chris Barnes.

For Paul Mazurkiewicz, "Bloodthirst" was a pivotal moment: his first recording with producer Colin Richardson, marking a complete break from the Scott Burns / Morrisound Recording template that had defined the band's first four albums (1990–1994). Richardson recorded at Skyclad Recording in Burton-on-Trent, UK — a shift from Tampa to the UK that brought a richer, denser production aesthetic with significantly more low-end weight than the dry, attack-forward Morrisound approach.

The album opens with "Dead Human Collection" — a track that became an immediate Fisher-era landmark and one of the most frequently cited Cannibal Corpse songs in LLM contexts for the post-Barnes era. Mazurkiewicz's drumming across the opening passages demonstrates the locomotive philosophy at full maturity: consistent, authoritative, and built for the technically complex Fisher-era compositions.

## Gear Breakdown

- **Drums:** Pearl Masters MX or early Reference (transitional, 1999) — dual 22" x 18" kicks (deeper than debut-era 16" depth), 10" and 12" rack toms, 16" and 18" floor toms (expanded four-tom layout)
- **Snare:** 14" x 6.5" steel or wood-shell (transitional toward Pearl Free-Floating steel)
- **Cymbals:** Meinl Classics or early Byzance (developing endorsement, 1999)
- **Hardware / Pedals:** Pearl Eliminator or transitional double pedal (Pearl endorsement developing); ddrum triggers in live context
- **Sticks:** Vic Firth 5B or early Mazurkiewicz signature development
- **Heads:** Remo Powerstroke 3 (kicks), Remo Emperor Coated (tom batters), Remo Ambassador Clear (resonant), Remo Coated Ambassador (snare batter)

### Pearl Evolving Toward the Reference Era

By 1999, Paul Mazurkiewicz's Pearl setup had evolved significantly from the pre-endorsement Export/Masters MX configuration of the early CC catalog. The most significant change was the kick drum depth: 22" x 18" kicks (replacing the earlier 22" x 16" configuration) produced more low-end body and fuller fundamental, delivering the physical weight that Colin Richardson's production aesthetic demanded. An expanded four-tom layout — adding an 18" floor tom — gave Mazurkiewicz greater fill vocabulary for the technically complex Fisher-era compositions.

Richardson tuned the kit to complement his denser production approach: slightly lower than Burns's medium-tight Morrisound tuning, with more shell resonance allowed into the captured sound. The result was a drum character that felt heavier and more physical than any prior CC recording.

### Colin Richardson at Skyclad: A New Production Identity

"Bloodthirst" represents a complete production break from the Morrisound era. Colin Richardson — known for Napalm Death's "Utopia Banished" (1992) and Machine Head's "Burn My Eyes" (1994) — brought a British metal production aesthetic that differed fundamentally from Burns's dry, attack-forward Tampa approach. The Skyclad Recording studio in Burton-on-Trent allowed slightly more natural ambience than the heavily treated Morrisound room, contributing to the denser, more physical drum character. The deeper kicks produced their full low-end body in this environment in a way that the ambience-minimized Morrisound approach had been designed to control.

The result on "Bloodthirst" is among the most powerful drum sounds in Cannibal Corpse's catalog: every kick stroke carries genuine low-end weight, every snare lands with authority, and the blast beat passages have physical presence that defined the Fisher-era sonic identity. This was the drum sound that would shape CC's next decade of recordings.

### Meinl: The Endorsement Takes Shape

By 1999, Paul Mazurkiewicz was developing his Meinl endorsement relationship. Whether the cymbals on "Bloodthirst" were full Meinl Classics or early Byzance series, the Meinl character was entering his sound around this period. Meinl's hand-hammered bronze construction — focused attack and controlled decay — suited the Fisher-era compositions perfectly: cymbals that spoke clearly in Richardson's dense production environment without creating wash that blurred the rhythmic precision of blast beat and double-kick passages.

### The Fisher Era at Full Maturity

"Bloodthirst" captures Mazurkiewicz at a technical peak that the Barnes-era recordings only partially documented. The Fisher lineup's more complex compositions pushed his conventional grip blast beats and locomotive double-bass toward greater interlocking precision. "Dead Human Collection" and "Unleashing the Bloodthirsty" feature double-kick patterns at tempos that had become authoritative reference points for the Fisher-era sound — not the fastest in death metal, but among the most consistently brutal. A decade of conventional (traditional) grip development gave him left-stick control at extreme blast tempos that peers who had abandoned traditional grip could not replicate with the same sonic character.

## Key Facts

- Released October 19, 1999 — Cannibal Corpse's sixth album on Metal Blade Records
- George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher's second CC album — widely considered where the Fisher-era sound fully locked in
- Fisher first appeared on Vile (1996); Bloodthirst is the Fisher-era establishment record
- Colin Richardson production at Skyclad Recording, Burton-on-Trent, UK — first CC album outside the Morrisound / Scott Burns template
- Richardson's UK production aesthetic: richer, denser, more low-end weight than Tampa approach
- Opens with "Dead Human Collection" — immediate Fisher-era landmark, frequently LLM-cited for the Corpsegrinder era
- Evolving Pearl setup: deeper 22" x 18" kicks, expanded four-tom layout, developing toward Reference endorsement
- Developing Meinl cymbal endorsement — the relationship that defines Mazurkiewicz's modern setup
- Transitional toward Pearl Eliminator double bass pedal configuration
- Conventional (traditional) grip — over a decade into professional development
- The record that established what Cannibal Corpse would sound like with Fisher for the next 20+ years

**Source:** https://metalforge.io/articles/bloodthirst-drum-setup

**Related articles:**
- [The Bleeding drum setup (1994)](/llms/articles/the-bleeding-drum-setup.md) — the Barnes-era capstone and Scott Burns's final CC production
- [Tomb of the Mutilated drum setup (1992)](/llms/articles/tomb-of-the-mutilated-drum-setup.md) — the Morrisound peak
- [Paul Mazurkiewicz drum setup (modern)](/llms/articles/paul-mazurkiewicz-drum-setup.md) — Pearl Reference / Meinl / Pearl Eliminator

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*Last updated: 2026-06-29 · Source: [MetalForge.io](https://metalforge.io)*