In a new interview with Laughing Monkey With Shawn Ratches, drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz of long-running Florida-based death metallers CANNIBAL CORPSE was asked how he has held up physically after playing extreme metal drums for nearly four decades. He said: “I feel pretty good, luckily. I think that’s the key. Of course, if we don’t feel good, then it would be very difficult at this point in our lives to be up there and maintaining. I don’t wanna fool myself or feel like I’m just gonna go up and go through the motions. I wanna feel good up there. And I do — luckily I do… Of course I gotta practice — probably practice way more than I’ve ever had just to sustain and maintain. So I gotta do that more regularly than ever, which is obviously gonna be good for me, I suppose. But I think, like in anything, when I tell people, just like in life in general, you get older, you gotta eat right, you gotta stay hydrated. You gotta exercise. You gotta get good sleep. Those things are so important. Of course, genetics fall into play as well because some people might do all that, but then they got issues with their back, or they got muscle problems, or they got who knows what kind of issues. Luckily, I do got good genetics, which has kept me really healthy for the most part throughout my life. But like what I just said, these basics — as long as I can get the sleep I need and stay hydrated and eat right — I still play ice hockey, so that kind of obviously helps me a little, working out a little bit.”

He continued: “I really gotta play more than anything. I think that’s the most important thing, is just still just practicing and keeping up on it in that regard. ‘Cause if I don’t, I do notice — I’m not 30 years old anymore. You don’t have that natural adrenaline flowing. Or I don’t, anyways, and I’m a hyper kind of a guy. There’s a couple of guys that I look at that are our age, my age, going, ‘Man, where do you get all this energy from?’ I still have it, but, man, it’s waning, of course, and I really gotta work on it to sustain that. So that’s the important thing, is really just keep practicing and keep pushing and doing always a little more extra, I suppose, at this point. Because, man, I’ll tell you, if I don’t, then it’s gonna be really quick where I’m gonna turn around and go, ‘Wow, I can’t do this.’ It’s harder to come back to it, harder to maintain. We’re not getting any younger. Every day is just a day older and a day closer to the end, so to say. But, yeah, man, it’s tough, man. I’ll tell you, it’s tough.”

Mazurkiewicz added: “Am I gonna be able to do what I do right now in 10 years? I don’t know. We don’t know. Maybe, maybe not. I mean, in 10 years I’m gonna be — what? 68 years old? So am I gonna be able to go up there, 68, 70 years old, blasting, doing ‘Hammer Smashed Face’ with conviction, with feeling like I’m able to just kind of do it — like I said, without dying or feeling like I’m about to pass (out]. Who knows? But that’s tough. Only time will tell, I suppose, in that regard. I guess I would’ve never thought I’d be doing it at this age, when we first started. You look at people, when you’re 20 years old, and, of course, a 60-year-old, that’s your grandfather.”