This 3 song demo from San Diego's Daemos is a rather interesting affair. In the first song alone, entitled "Don't Touch", they manage to incorporate elements of death, grind, and thrash flawlessly, and they even throw in some old school Meshuggah-styled gang vocals to boot. And to their credit, nothing sounds forced or out of place within the song, and the chorus is not only really memorable, but it's rather catchy as well.

Track two, "Shattering", has a ton of Skinlab influence. Everything about it, from the mid-paced grooving riffs to the aggressive vocal style, right down to the guitar tone screams out Skinlab. It basically sounds like a Skinlab medley. Whether that was the intent or not is unknown, but that's ultimately what this song sounds like. The only thing that doesn't fit in with that description are the clean vocals in the song, which sound more like one of the many vocal styles of Mike Patton than anything else. Not as original as the first track, but not that bad either.

The closing track, "Iodine", sees Daemos once again striving to create their own signature sound and doing a decent job of it. Much like the album opener, there's alot more of a death thrash vibe to this song, with numerous vocal styles thrown in for good effect. It's a short track, but it's more than enough to showcase band's skill and developing style.

If this demo is an indicator of things to come, then it's definitely a step in the right direction for a band. While most bands out there do nothing but try and emulate the current Deathcore, Metalcore, Death Metal, or Black Metal flavor of the week/month, Daemos are obviously determined to try and do something just a bit different. Trends and expectations be damned.