Mastodon's 2009 LP Crack The Skye is mad-knotty metal, long on virtuoso licks and neck-snap time-signature shifts. Performed in full on this crushing live DVD/CD, recorded in Chicago, it left little room for embellishment or stage gymnastics; psychedelic film clips aside, the DVD's visual highpoint point is Brent Hinds' tattooed digits running amok on his Lucite Flying V during the four-part brutality suite "The Czar."
Video: Mastodon's Concert DVD 'Live At The Aragon'
Things loosen up on older material (a thrashing "Aqua Dementia"), and the band do a punishing cover of the Melvins' 1996 psych-sludge gem "The Bit." Replacing the original's sitar with Hinds' 12-string guitar roar, Mastodon again prove themselves broad-minded headbangers.
Listen to "Oblivion" (Live at the Aragon):
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