Visually and conceptually, Down’s Diary of a Mad Band is the diametric opposite of Mutemath’s Armistice Live. There’s no tricky lighting or innovative camera work. The DVD is intentionally a throwback to rock films that take the fans on tour. As such, it documents the show and the backstage horseplay, and as you’d expect, it ranges from fascinating to mundane, and from the juvenile to the inspired. Phil Anselmo’s meditations on the band-as-brotherhood walk the fine line between insightful and Spinal Tap.

Fans debate Anselmo’s status on the tour—is he a mess or not? I don’t hear the disaster that some of the reviewers at Amazon.com hear, but I’ve found him more involving and compelling live than I do in these performances. At the same time, the band is a sledgehammer with songs, as the set list from this 2006 European tour illustrates.