Metal Reigns Supreme, Cannibal Corpse and Friends Tear Up the Alamo City

The Aztec Theatre is no stranger to metal shows. Its red-lit atmosphere, relics of Aztec soldiers, and gilded walls provide a perfect GA floor fit for a circle pit or two. It’s a fitting venue for one of the heaviest bands in the world to take over its hallowed grounds.

Cannibal Corpse brought its Summer 2025 tour to the heavy metal capital of the world, stopping on the 19th date of its 29-day trek. Along for the ride were thrashers Municipal Waste, grindcore noise lords Full of Hell, and Italian death metal band Fulci.

The opening band was by no means the least, as Fulci took the stage. This Italian thematic death metal band draws its name from the legendary giallo film director Lucio Fulci. As a tribute, each song in their set is dedicated to a film or scene from a Fulci movie, with clips projected overhead. Gore followed riffs, suspenseful chases accompanied low growls, and the panicked last heartbeats of each character were matched by relentless double bass pedals. The concept was unlike anything I’ve ever encountered.

During my Italian stop on a European tour with a blackened death metal band in 2022, one of our hosts was a couple living in a repurposed mid-century hotel. We talked about classic horror films when one of them pulled out her DVD collection and handed me Non Si Sevizia Un Paperino by Fulci. Fascinated, I watched it as soon as I got back to the States. Total chaos. Masterfully executed and now one of my top five horror films. Witnessing a band that has effectively spread the gospel of Fulci’s cinematic gore was something truly special.

Full of Hell followed next, delivering their relentless mixture of grindcore and powerviolence to the forefront of the San Antonio metal scene. Having released their latest album Coagulated Bliss on Closed Casket Activities Records last year, the band put on a devastating show. Vocalist Dylan Walker wailed between screeching vocals and synths, sometimes even incorporating the SOMA Pipe throughout the set. Songs from their 2017 album Trumpeting Ecstasy featured heavily.

Municipal Waste went no-holds-barred during their set. Frontman Tony Foresta commanded the circle pits while the rest of the band paced the stage relentlessly. Guitarist Ryan Waste’s riffs, combined with bassist Philip “LandPhil” Hall’s driving bass lines, stylishly sporting Pit Vipers, were just the tip of the iceberg. Throughout the set, they hurled half-empty boxes of merch and dirty laundry hampers into the crowd, urging second-tier patrons to crowd surf. This incited an exodus of metalheads diving into the sold-out GA floor below. At one point, Tony took a moment to address the current chaotic social climate:

“It seems like, for the most part, everyone’s in agreement. And if we’re not, maybe look around, open up your mind, stop looking at your phone, and stop being a dickhead. It’s all just shit rich people wanna do to take over, we all know this.”

Cannibal Corpse concluded the night with a moment fans had been waiting for: to challenge “The Neck.” Towering above the crowd, George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, alongside founding members Alex Webster, Paul Mazurkiewicz, and newest addition Erik Rutan led a brutal assault that local metalheads know all too well.

Mosh pits, circle pits, crowd surfers, stressed-out security guards, and long-time fans who had been there since Cannibal Corpse first visited the Alamo City in 1992 filled the venue. Their legacy as heavy metal staples made the historic theatre tremble as classics like Scourge of Iron, Evisceration Plague, and Inhumane Harvest echoed through the chambers.

The finale included I Cum Blood and Hammer Smashed Face. The crowd never wavered. The mosh pits were intense. But in the end, the neck claimed victory once again, as the reigning champion of headbang.

Check out the gallery below!

Photos by Oscar Moreno