The inner sleeve shows artwork with four microphones, the record sleeve shows an illustration of a fictionalized map of Action Park on one side, and a lengthy medical text Resuscitation from apparent death by electric shock on the other side (the text was found in an old electronics textbook of Weston's).

Greg Kot wrote that the "music is still punishing in the extreme, with melody subservient to groove and dynamics, and the human voice just another instrument in a maelstrom", going on to write that "Albini uses his guitar more for color and texture rather than as a lead instrument, while bassist Bob Weston and drummer Todd Trainer create a vicious spin-cycle groove, punctuated by thrilling ebbs and leaps in volume and tempo" and called the engineering "extraordinary".

"[9] Retrospectively, AllMusic's Mark Deming wrote that despite Albini's continued obsession with "sex, violence, and anti-social behavior" from his Big Black days and while "the hard, metallic guitar figures of "Pull the Cup" and "Song of the Minerals" were as uncompromisingly abrasive as ever", the album revealed "a band more musically intelligent and imaginative" than his former band.

[3] Mike Sullivan of Russian Circles cited this album, alongside Fugazi's Red Medicine, as major influences on his guitar-playing, noting that they "literally changed the way [he] looked at music".

[15] Electronic producer Clark included the album among his favorites, noting that "there's almost a techno element to it, it feels blocky, like it's made out of angles rather than anything circular, but still the production's quite warm, it just draws you in.