Amid all the madness of the past 15 months, it’s been important to keep a sense of perspective as to the things that really matter. So in the new issue of Metal Hammer magazine, on sale now, we’re delighted to give Cannibal Corpse frontman George ‘Corpsegrinder’ Fisher a platform to proudly tell the world that he considers himself to be the world’s greatest headbanger.
“I try to be humble,” Corpsegrinder tells Hammer, “but you have to be the best at something.”
While the past year had undoubtedly been challenging, the prospect of returning to the stage to challenge death metal’s most hardcore fans to take him on head-to-head, so to speak, is one that fills Corpsegrinder with understandable excitement.
“I’ve said onstage, ‘Try to keep up with me. You will fail’,” the singer states,. “I’ve seen some kids hold their own. There are some in the front row [saying], ‘I can beat you!’ It’s a fun game and, I wouldn’t say they’re better than me, but there are competent headbangers out there. Headbanging at the start of I Cum Blood is my signature part, so there are some great kids out there, but I’d never say anyone beat me.”
Elsewhere in the issue’s Life Lessons interview, Corpsegrinder reveals that seeing legendary death metal pioneers Death in 1988 set him on the path to becoming a modern metal icon.
“I went and saw Death play, and it changed everything for me,’ he admits. “It was right before Leprosy came out [in 1988] and there were, like, 50 people at this show. It was a short stage and I was standing right in front of Chuck [Schuldiner]. I could have literally walked right up to him and said, ‘Hey, what’s up?’ I’d already heard Death records, but the way he could scream live made me go, ‘This is the way I want to sing.’ The long, high screams that people know me for in Cannibal Corpse, the biggest part of that is Chuck Schuldiner.”
You can read the rest of the feature in the new issue of Metal Hammer, which is out now.
Now click here for a more expansive interview with Corpsegrinder, the hero we never knew we needed.
