Shaytaan more or less splits the difference between cagy atmospherics and riff-driven musicianship, the vox tucked away but venomous, an overdriven electric frazzle dripping sparks off the guitar strings, yet at the same time not entirely relying on a monotonous torrent of hyper-plucked triplets to get the idea across. Closing track "Set Out to Die" has to be the defining moment of this demo. The buzzing production ebbs in and out of clarity, but as this is the track that most fully fleshes out Shaytaan's well rounded talents, the sonic contradictions serve to enhance rather than hinder.

"Son of a Thousand Whores" is also strongly rendered, but suffers just a tad from maybe attempting to top itself once too often in terms of blinding intensity. The song works best when it steps back the breakneck pace and muses a bit before rushing headlong back into the fray. "Shepherd of Shit" works the tempo changes needed on "...Whores" quite well, but isn't quite as multidimensional in other regards as its predecessor. Stalemate.

Otherwise we have an instrumental intro (read: filler) that doesn't detract from an extremely promising demo. In closing, it warrants mention that what few lyrical excerpts were included with the press blurb are pretty impressive in their unhinged depravity. Here's hoping the next Sacrilegious effort comes with full liner notes.