# Paul Mazurkiewicz's Drum Setup on Cannibal Corpse's Gallery of Suicide (1998)

> Complete drum gear breakdown for Cannibal Corpse's Gallery of Suicide (1998). Paul Mazurkiewicz's transitional Pearl kit, Jim Morris's final Morrisound CC production, Pat O'Brien's debut, and the last Tampa-recorded chapter of the Corpsegrinder consolidation era.

**Type:** Album Drum Setup
**Drummer(s):** [Paul Mazurkiewicz](/llms/drummers/paul-mazurkiewicz.md)
**Band / Album:** Cannibal Corpse — *Gallery of Suicide* (1998)
**Genre:** Death Metal
**Label:** Metal Blade Records
**Studio:** Morrisound Recording, Tampa, Florida
**Producer:** Jim Morris

## Overview

Released on April 21, 1998 through Metal Blade Records, Cannibal Corpse's sixth album "Gallery of Suicide" closed out the band's eight-year relationship with Morrisound Recording in Tampa, Florida — the studio that had captured every prior CC album since "Eaten Back to Life" (1990). It also marked George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher's second outing as vocalist, following his 1996 debut on "Vile," and introduced lead guitarist Pat O'Brien (formerly of Nevermore), who would remain a fixture of the band's lineup for over two decades.

For Paul Mazurkiewicz, "Gallery of Suicide" represented a notable handoff behind the boards. Scott Burns, who had produced every Cannibal Corpse album from "Eaten Back to Life" through "The Bleeding" (1994), had stepped back from extreme metal production work by the late 1990s. In his place, Morrisound co-owner Jim Morris took the producer's chair — engineering, mixing, and mastering the album himself, while preserving the dry, attack-forward Tampa drum sound that had become death metal's production standard.

The album arrived in a commercial landscape dominated by nu-metal, and Cannibal Corpse leaned into experimentation within the death metal idiom: blast beat patterns drawing on black metal's relentless pulse, and "From Skin to Liquid," the band's first instrumental and, at the time, its slowest recorded piece.

## Gear Breakdown

- **Drums:** Pearl Masters MX (transitional toward Pearl Reference, 1998) — dual 22" x 16" kicks, 10" and 12" rack toms, 16" floor tom
- **Snare:** 14" x 5.5" wood-shell (maple or birch, Masters MX-range)
- **Cymbals:** Paiste 2002 / Zildjian A (era-typical, transitioning toward Meinl)
- **Hardware / Pedals:** Pearl P-2002C or early Eliminator-family double pedal (transitioning from individual single pedals)
- **Sticks:** Vic Firth 5B Wood Tip (pre-signature)
- **Heads:** Remo Powerstroke 3 Clear (kicks), Remo Emperor Clear (tom batters), Remo Ambassador Clear (resonant), Remo Ambassador or Emperor Coated (snare batter)

### Pearl in Transition: Between Masters MX and the Reference Era

By 1998, Paul Mazurkiewicz's Pearl setup was continuing the gradual evolution away from the bare-bones, pre-endorsement gear of the early CC catalog. "Gallery of Suicide" finds him still working primarily with a Pearl Masters MX-range configuration — the same general shell family heard on "The Bleeding" (1994) — rather than the deeper-shelled, Reference-bound kit that would emerge over the following two albums. The dual 22" x 16" kick drum configuration carried over unchanged from the early-90s records, continuing to give Mazurkiewicz the symmetric foot independence his locomotive double-bass approach was built on.

### Jim Morris at Morrisound: Closing Out an Era

"Gallery of Suicide" was the eighth and final Cannibal Corpse album recorded at Morrisound Recording in Tampa, Florida. With Scott Burns having stepped back from extreme metal production by the late 1990s, Jim Morris took over engineering, mixing, and mastering duties, applying the studio's established close-miked, dry, attack-forward drum philosophy to Mazurkiewicz's transitional kit. "From Skin to Liquid" required Morris to capture Mazurkiewicz's playing in a context built around space and texture rather than constant blast-beat density — a different engineering challenge than anything the Burns-era records had asked for.

### Late Pre-Meinl Brass

Mazurkiewicz's cymbal setup remained largely in the Paiste 2002 / Zildjian A territory that had served the band's catalog since the early 1990s. The full Meinl endorsement relationship that defines his modern rig was still developing through this period — "Gallery of Suicide" sits earlier in that gradual transition than "Bloodthirst" (1999), the album that immediately followed it.

### Locomotive Consistency Meets Black-Metal-Influenced Blasts

Several tracks on "Gallery of Suicide" lean into blast beat patterns with a relentless, sustained character closer to black metal's pulse than the more song-structured blasts of "Tomb of the Mutilated" or "The Bleeding." Mazurkiewicz's standard alternating blast technique adapts to that more continuous approach without sacrificing weight and consistency. "From Skin to Liquid" required a different skill: restraint and dynamic control across an extended, atmospheric arrangement — the closest the band had come at that point to giving its drummer space rather than density.

## Key Facts

- Released April 21, 1998 — Cannibal Corpse's sixth album on Metal Blade Records
- The last Cannibal Corpse album recorded at Morrisound Recording, Tampa — a studio relationship dating to 1990
- Produced, engineered, mixed, and mastered by Jim Morris, succeeding Scott Burns
- George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher's second CC album, following his 1996 debut on Vile
- First album to feature lead guitarist Pat O'Brien (ex-Nevermore), a CC mainstay for over two decades
- "From Skin to Liquid" — the band's first instrumental and, at the time, its slowest recorded track
- Peaked at #22 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart — did not chart on the Billboard 200 (Vile, 1996, was CC's first Billboard 200 entry at #151)
- Mixed reviews at release (AllMusic 2.5/5) but reassessed more favorably by fans over time
- Pearl setup transitional — Masters MX range, still pre-Reference
- Meinl cymbal endorsement still developing, not yet established
- Cannibal Corpse would not record at Morrisound again after this album

**Source:** https://metalforge.io/articles/gallery-of-suicide-drum-setup

**Related articles:**
- [The Bleeding drum setup (1994)](/llms/articles/the-bleeding-drum-setup.md) — Scott Burns's final Morrisound session
- [Bloodthirst drum setup (1999)](/llms/articles/bloodthirst-drum-setup.md) — the move to Colin Richardson and the UK
- [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: 2026-06-30 · Source: [MetalForge.io](https://metalforge.io)*