Live At The Aragon [CD+DVD]

Live At The Aragon may be the best available Mastodon DVD to date, but it's not quite the perfect product that this band deserves and depending on your tolerance level for certain issues your enjoyment of this product is not entirely guaranteed.

While there's almost no faulting the edit (excepting one camera angle that's permanently out of sync with the audio), the final mix at times leaves a lot to be desired. As the show progresses, the vocals slip further into the mud of the overall mix so that by the time the band reaches their absolutely wonderful cover of "The Bit" (a Mastodon song in spirit, if not in conception) they're really not much more than an obvious presence, any clarity lost amidst the frantic guitarwork and drumming that typifies this band. Picking out individual words from the general noise is an uphill struggle. Unlike other reviewers here on Amazon, I have no qualms with the performance on show- just how it's been handled in the final mix. Familiarity with the material is a benefit- knowing how the music is supposed to sound improves the experience to no end, but for some this won't as advantageous as for longtime fans. The overall lack of force in the low end is another problem- guitar enthusiasts will have a field day but there's a distinct absence of bass drum punch that even at low volumes should stand as the backbone of any good DVD mix.

Modern standards dictate a live show is coupled with a substantial extras package and this is the second department in which Live At The Aragon falls short- its only extra feature is the projection film that plays during the show which is rendered even less interesting without the crackle of the live energy in front of it. A documentary or relevant music videos (several of which were produced to accompany the tracks from the Crack The Skye album that provides the meat of the live set) really would have helped boost the disc up to essential status, but as it is (and considering the bog-standard CD packaging) it comes across more like a bonus ITSELF for a live album than the must-have, be-all-end-all Mastodon DVD experience it could have been. Impressive, but tinged with disappointment.

Since Mastodon dropped all the growly shouty stuff 3 albums or so ago they've become one of the more interesting metal/prog bands. The musicianship is outstanding, the arrangements smart and fairly complex, as well as being cleverly multi-layered. I saw this tour when it did the u.k. and whilst I enjoyed it, the sound could have been better. I'm glad that most of those problems aren't evident on this recording, and if you haven't seen them, this is the next best thing. There are minor niggles with the sound and some of the camerework, but what the heck . This is a great band who've moved on from their roots without losing their aggression - it's just been channelled into something more ear friendly, and thus they'll reach a bigger audience without having to sell out or compromise too much.What they'll do next I don't know. I hope they haven't peaked too soon. As for the film used as a backdrop to the live show with studio recorded music behind it, I think it's great. Weird, but great. I enjoyed it anyway.

For fans of Mastodon this DVD will surely be a delight. Finally, a pro shot DVD of an entire concert is available, with full quality sound and editing. This is something fans have been eagerly awaiting for a long time now.

Mastodon's Previous DVD The Workhorse Chronicles featured a wealth of live content from various periods in their career but none on the scale and of the quality available here, its great to see the band on a large stage absolutely in control, fully confident and completely delivering on every promise their music made from as far back as the Lifesblood EP, this DVD is a perfect culmination of the hard work and dedication documented on their previous DVD and shows a band deservedly fulfilling their potential.

On the subject of track listing, the band opens with the entire Crack The Skye album and follows up with a selection of heavier numbers gathered from all their studio albums to date. The tracks in question are "Circle Of Cysquatch," "Aqua Dementia," "Where Strides The Behemoth," and "Mother Puncher," before closing with the Melvins cover "The Bit."

The track listing may not be to your particular tastes as many key songs such as `Blood and Thunder,' `March of the Fire Ants' and `Sleeping Giant,' are absent but do not let this hamper your enjoyment of the set.

In terms of performance the band are on fire, delivering the complex and proggier music form Crack The Skye, supplemented by keyboard player Derek Mitchka with the same power and authority they put into the heavier and more furious material from Remission and Leviathan, Troy even does a formidable Scott Kelly impression on the tracks `Crack The Skye,' and `Aqua Dementia.'

The band's playing is of superb quality and importantly, the vocals are very good live. If you saw the Mastodon segment of the Unholy Alliance DVD and thought that the vocals were poor live then know that no such issue exists on this recording for the most part, everyone is on top form and with drummer Brann Dailor joining in for much more than just his allotted section on `Oblivion.' There are some issues with Brent on the last few songs, but Troy and Brann nail it.

A concert performed well musically, even in situations of excellent staging and lighting is nothing if the camerawork, editing, picture and sound are poor quality. Rest assured that Live At The Aragon is of very high quality in all four departments and that no issues on any account can be fairly levelled against it.

As is the custom nowadays, you also get the concert on CD to enjoy in the car or rip to you mp3 player so you aren't tethered to a television if you want to hear it.

In addition, the DVD features a strong and interesting feature called Crack The Skye the movie, which is not a documentary as you may expect, but in fact an extended music video of very high quality that the band performed in front of while on stage. Not a reason in itself to get the set but a welcome extra.

Finally to the smallest details; The box, DVD menus and booklet artwork are all in fitting with the ever present Mastodon style, although without the trademark gold coloured spine, this time the spine is black with gold text, although that will help separate the fact that it is primarily a DVD I suppose.

Overall I highly recommend this DVD. Put simply, if you like Mastodon, you'll like this.