Heaviest Of Art caught up with Cannibal Corpse drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz and artist Vince Locke to discuss the artwork for the band's new album, Violence Unimagined, and to reflect on the decades of an iconic partnership. Following is an excerpt from the interview.

HOA: When it came to working with Vince for Violence Unimagined, what were you looking for? It definitely harnesses from that Wretched Spawn (2004) sort of feel. 

Mazurkiewicz: "This is one of those albums where I came up with the title. I came up with Violence Unimagined and immediately thought it had to be insane. It’s Violence Unimagined here. We need a sick cover. We needed something sick. We had to be old school in a sense, go back to the roots of source and have something mind blowing. None of us had any idea of what it could be aside from the title itself. This is one of those where we went to Vince and said, 'What do you got?' He came up with what he felt unimaginable violence was." 

"We did have a few different sketches and ideas and just worked together as a team to narrow it down. We of course did our tweaking and things of that nature, but everything came from Vince and he came to us with a great cover as usual. We ended up doing that censored version as well, but man, what a great cover. I think it’s one of our best and one of Vince’s best. That’s Cannibal Corpse right there. I’m glad we went that route because I know the fans have reacted so positively." 

Locke: "As mentioned, Paul gave me the title for the album and just wanted to see what I came up with. I had a few sketches going in different directions, some a bit fantasy or monster oriented, some more “real”. One was the demon woman eating her own baby. I made a few tweaks to the design and started painting. I was trying to finish it before I went on a week vacation over the summer, but I didn't make it. I was thinking about the cover while on vacation and I just wasn't happy with it. It didn't have the 'in your face' impact it should have. So, I worked up some new sketches to show them when I got back. It was the same concept, just zoomed in a bit more, making for a bolder composition. The band was all for it, so I set aside my half finished painting and worked up what became the NSFW cover."

Read the complete interview here.

On April 16, Cannibal Corpse will release their fifteenth studio album, Violence Unimagined, via Metal Blade Records. For a first preview of the record, the new single "Inhumane Harvest" can be heard below.

Violence Unimagined is available for pre-order here in the following formats:

- digipak-CD
- deluxe edition artbook (48-page hardcover book includes: CD, crimson red marbled vinyl, flag, patch, and sticker)
- 180g black vinyl (EU exclusive)
- bloodred marbled vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 1000 copies)
- golden ochre marbled vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 500 copies)
- silver-gray blue marbled vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 300 copies)
- clear w/ red, silver, and black splatter vinyl (Kings Road exclusive - limited to 200 copies)
- silver / white melt w/ red splatter vinyl (Kings Road exclusive - limited to 100 copies)
- dark olive marbled vinyl (PIAS exclusive - limited to 300 copies)
- burnt skin marbled vinyl (Napalm exclusive - limited to 200 copies)
- swamp green marbled vinyl (Nuclear Blast exclusive - limited to 200 copies)
- khaki olive marbled vinyl (EMP exclusive - limited to 200 copies)
- dark burgundy red vinyl (EMP exclusive - limited to 200 copies)
- bloody skin marbled vinyl (UK exclusive - limited to 200 copies)
- coke bottle clear / swamp green color in color vinyl (Decibel exclusive)
- bone / red color in color vinyl (US exclusive)
- white / olive green melt vinyl (US exclusive)
- beer w/ red splatter vinyl (US exclusive)

Comprised of eleven tracks, Violence Unimagined is state of the art death metal played with passion and breathless precision, making for another flawless addition to what is inarguably one of the premier catalogues the genre has thrown up.

"It really follows the path we've been going down for a few years now," states bassist and founding member Alex Webster. "I think we approach the writing in a similar way most every time: each of us try to write the heaviest, most memorable songs we can. We want each song to have its own identifiable character. Showing my age, I like to say you can 'drop the needle' on any point of one of our albums and quickly tell which song you're listening to."

While they continue to do what they do with aplomb, the one substantial change to Cannibal Corpse is the addition of guitarist Erik Rutan to their ranks, joining Webster, founding drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz, guitarist Rob Barrett and vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher. Known for his roles in Morbid Angel, Ripping Corpse and most notably fronting the mighty Hate Eternal, Rutan has long established himself as one of the most dynamic forces in contemporary death metal. Simultaneously, he has built up a reputation as one of the most in demand producers in metal, having previously produced four Cannibal Corpse albums (in addition to Violence Unimagined), alongside the likes of Goatwhore, Soilent Green and Belphegor. Filling in live on guitar since 2019, in 2020 he became a full member, contributing to the writing process.

"I think the most noticeable difference on this record will be the addition of Erik to the band. He wrote three full songs for the record, music and lyrics, and his song writing and guitar playing have added something new, and I think his musical style integrated into ours very well," Webster enthuses.

This is not all that he brings to the band. "He's a great friend of ours, so on a personal level, he's been a perfect fit, as we knew he would be. Beyond that, he's one of the hardest working people I know, in music or otherwise, and he maintains a high energy, positive demeanor in challenging situations where other people might go in a negative direction. This energy and great attitude rubs off on the rest of us as well. That's really a perfect situation to have when you add someone to a band, or any kind of team: someone who's great at what they do, and also inspires the people around them."

Already well known for the level of extreme technicality they bring to every record, on Violence Unimagined, Cannibal Corpse have further upped their game, particularly in Mazurkiewicz's drumming.

"I think we all pushed ourselves a bit technically on this one, with Paul probably pushing the hardest. This album is probably the most drum-intense album we've done yet. Part of that could be a result of Erik joining the band. His song writing style often features technically challenging drumming, probably owing to his years of experience in high speed death metal."

And with typically dark and warped lyrical content, Mazurkiewicz came up with the fitting title of the record, "summing up what the band is about in every facet, and taking violence to another level of extremity."

Violence Unimagined tracklisting:

"Murderous Rampage"
"Necrogenic Resurrection"
"Inhumane Harvest"
"Condemnation Contagion"
"Surround, Kill, Devour"
"Ritual Annihilation"
"Follow The Blood"
"Bound And Burned"
"Slowly Sawn"
"Overtorture"
"Cerements Of The Flayed"

"Inhumane Harvest":

Cannibal Corpse lineup:

Alex Webster - bass
Paul Mazurkiewicz - drums
George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher - vocals
Rob Barrett - guitar
Erik Rutan - guitar

(Photo - Alex Morgan)