Hailing from Costa Rica and being one of the first bands in the country to promote and expand the black metal movement, Alastor S.E. is a strange black metal band, because of the unusual mix of elements that might transform other bands of the genre into a more “easy to listen” black metal, but with these guys you have melodic influences and sounds but still they are as raw as you can get.

D.E.M.O.N. has keyboards, female vocals and atmospheric sounds that expand the performance of the band; but they still manage to maintain a level of brutality like none other; the music is still raw even with the many melodic arrangements placed on the album.

Alastor S.E. is one of the most respected bands in Costa Rica and the one with the biggest fan base in the country, and this record can tell you why. The song structure is complicated and the lyrics are well though out; D.E.M.O.N. has passages where brutality rules and others where they try to achieve a more “beautiful” atmosphere by incorporating a operatic female vocals as well as a keyboard that sadly sounds way to pushed to the background of the album. The guitars are not remarkable but do their job; the drums are quite good and along side Abrahkkan vocals they are the ones keeping the raw black metal groove going; while the keyboards and Perséfone (soprano) provide the “beautiful” atmosphere on every song.

In the down side, we can only mention that the production and mixing was not the best one, but manage to keep things basic and raw; this album could have been way better if the band would have the resources to record and mix the album in a “more professional” studio.