George Fisher (musician)

This article is about the vocalist. For other people, see George Fisher.

George Fisher (born July 8, 1970), better known by his stage name Corpsegrinder, is an American death metal vocalist who is the lead singer of Cannibal Corpse, Paths of Possession and the supergroup Serpentine Dominion.

George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher
Fisher with Cannibal Corpse in 2019
Background information
Born	(1970-07-08) July 8, 1970 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Genres	Death metal melodic death metal
Occupations	Vocalist songwriter
Years active	1988–present
Member of	Cannibal Corpse Paths of Possession Serpentine Dominion Voodoo Gods
Formerly of	Monstrosity
Website	thecorpsegrinder.com

Loudwire placed Fisher at number 7 on their list of the "Top 25 Extreme Metal Vocalists".

Early life

Fisher was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 8, 1970. He developed an interest in horror fiction and comic books at an early age.

Career

Early career

Fisher formed his first band "Corpsegrinder" in 1988, before turning 18. The band was composed of people Fisher and a friend had met while partying in a hotel. The name "Corpsegrinder" comes from a song of the same name on Death's 1984 demo Reign of Terror, which Fisher would later adopt as his stage name. The band began playing shows in the Baltimore area during February 1988, playing Cro-Mags and Sacrifice covers. In 1991, Fisher made his first official studio appearance on Suffocation's Effigy of the Forgotten; his vocals can be heard on the songs "Mass Obliteration" and "Reincremation".

Monstrosity

Fisher received a call from Ted Hartz asking him to record vocals on a demo, after the latter had been fired from the band Exmortis. After some hesitation, Fisher decided to leave Corpsegrinder to join Hartz, feeling his bandmates in Corpsegrinder did not share his level of dedication for death metal. Fisher recorded lead vocals on two albums with the band.

Cannibal Corpse (1995–present)

Fisher initially met Chris Barnes, Alex Webster and Paul Mazurkiewicz at a Cannibal Corpse show in Washington, D.C. Fisher left Monstrosity in late 1995 and joined Cannibal Corpse, replacing Barnes on vocals in the band after Webster called Fisher and gave him the offer. Fisher reportedly screamed in excitement, which alarmed his mother. Fisher also claims he did not know he was an official member of the band until Vile was completed.

Corpsegrinder (2022–present)

Fisher released his debut solo album, Corpsegrinder, on February 25, 2022.

Other projects

Fisher has also provided guest vocals for California deathcore band Suicide Silence on the song "Control" from their fourth album, You Can't Stop Me. Fisher also performed guest vocals on Job for a Cowboy's 2014 album Sun Eater on the song "The Synthetic Sea". In 2021, Fisher performed guest vocals for Boston metalcore band Ice Nine Kills on the song "Take Your Pick" from the band's album The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood.

Fisher does occasional guest appearances in the animated series Metalocalypse where he voices the Metal Masked Assassin. He was also the inspiration for the character Nathan Explosion, the lead vocalist for Dethklok, who has a similar physical appearance and performance style to Corpsegrinder.

Artistry

Vocal style

Fisher is known for his death growls, high shrieks and rapid-fire vocal delivery style. Cannibal Corpse bassist Alex Webster remarked:

He was exactly what we wanted. If you listen to bands like Kreator and Dark Angel, they have that really rapid-fire vocal delivery and George was able to do that in a [death metal] way. We wanted the Tom Araya of [death metal] and we found him!

Influences

Fisher has stated that his interest in metal music started with Black Sabbath. He later moved on to other British heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Saxon, and then ultimately, extreme metal acts such as Venom, Slayer, Possessed, Kreator and Celtic Frost. He commented, "it just got heavier and heavier". Additionally, he is an outspoken fan of metal bands such as Death, Morbid Angel, Napalm Death, Sodom, Dark Angel, Dethklok, Motörhead, Autopsy, Deicide, Dio, Mercyful Fate, Megadeth, and Metallica. "I listen to a lot of straight edge stuff, you know, from the eighties."

He is a fan of live albums, citing Judas Priest's Unleashed in the East and Iron Maiden's Live After Death among some of his favorites, along with live releases by Sodom and Deicide.

Personal life

Fisher was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He is married and has two daughters. Contrary to the subject matter of his music, Fisher's personal life (viewed largely through his Instagram page) has been noted to be "wholesome", showing him as a father with his children at Walt Disney World and with large plush toys; he himself has noted an affinity towards winning plush animals from claw machine games, which he then often donates to charity. He is a fan of the Washington Wizards and the Denver Broncos. Fisher is apolitical and has never voted in an election; however, he expressed support to NFL players taking the knee. He is irreligious, denouncing religion as "a scam".

Fisher has gained popularity through the size of his neck, which he has explained is due to a combination of headbanging and weightlifting when he was younger.

Fisher is an avid fan of the online role-playing game World of Warcraft; he has a tattoo representing the Horde, one of the factions in the game, on his right forearm and added the phrase "Fuck the Alliance" to the liner notes of the 2006 Cannibal Corpse album Kill. He also made an appearance at BlizzCon 2011 where he performed alongside Level 90 Elite Tauren Chieftain, a band made up of Blizzard Entertainment employees. Fisher was referenced in the game when Blizzard introduced a non-player character named "Gorge the Corpsegrinder" into the Wrath of the Lich King expansion in 2008. The character was later renamed to "Annihilator Grek'lor" in 2021, coinciding with the emergence of allegedly homophobic remarks about the Alliance faction made by Fisher in 2007. Neither Fisher or Blizzard have commented publicly on the matter.

Discography

Corpsegrinder performing at Rock Hard Festival in Germany, 2016

Corpsegrinder

• Corpsegrinder (2022)

Cannibal Corpse

• Vile (1996)
• Gallery of Suicide (1998)
• Bloodthirst (1999)
• Gore Obsessed (2002)
• The Wretched Spawn (2004)
• Kill (2006)
• Evisceration Plague (2009)
• Torture (2012)
• A Skeletal Domain (2014)
• Red Before Black (2017)
• Violence Unimagined (2021)
• Chaos Horrific (2023)

Monstrosity

• Imperial Doom (1992)
• Millennium (1996)

Paths of Possession

• The Crypt of Madness (2003)
• Promises in Blood (2005)
• The End of the Hour (2007)

Voodoo Gods

• Anticipation for Blood Leveled in Darkness (2014)
• The Divinity of Blood (2020)

Serpentine Dominion

• Serpentine Dominion (2016)

Dethklok

• The Doomstar Requiem (2013) – voice of Metal Masked Assassin

Suicide Silence

• You Can't Stop Me (2014) – guest vocals on track "Control"

Job for a Cowboy

• Sun Eater (2014) – guest vocals on track "The Synthetic Sea"

Suffocation

• Effigy of the Forgotten (1991) - guest vocals on tracks "Mass Obliteration" and "Reincremation"

Ektomorf

• Aggressor (2015) - guest vocals on track "Evil by Nature"

Heaven Shall Burn

• Wanderer (2016) - guest vocals on track "Prey to God"

Transmetal

• México Bárbaro (1996) - guest vocals on tracks "México Bárbaro" and "Ceveline"

Igorrr

• Spirituality and Distortion (2020) - guest vocals on track "Parpaing"

Deeds of Flesh

• Nucleus (2020) - guest vocals on track "Ethereal Ancestors"

Dee Snider

• Leave a Scar (2021) - guest vocals on track "Time to Choose"

Ice Nine Kills

• The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood (2021) - guest vocals on track "Take Your Pick"

Revocation

• Netherheaven (2022) - guest vocals on track "Re-Crucified"

External links

• Interview with Mark Prindle