The cover features a painting formerly attributed to John Martin titled The Fallen Angels Entering Pandemonium.

The only exception was the very first review of the album by journalist Paul Suter for the influential British music paper Sounds in 1980.

Suter defined the album "appalling" and "weedy", marred by a "destructively dreadful" production and by weak vocals.

[7] Canadian reviewer Martin Popoff says that this is "the only Angel Witch album of deep importance", being "the first panoramic black metal statement of the modern era"; its "mix of gothic melody, sinister surprise and scorching dense riffery" establishes "the band as genuinely scary" and "isolated and elevated from the fun-loving metal community" of the time.

[5] Mike Stagno of the Sputnikmusic editorial staff reminds how Angel Witch "is regarded by many as a NWOBHM classic alongside the likes of Iron Maiden, On Through the Night, and Wheels of Steel" and, despite some flaws in the general sound, it is "a gem"; he adds that the band Angel Witch "never really achieved what they deserved.