It had a mixed reception upon release, enthusiastically welcomed by fans of the genre and of related bands such as Isis and Neurosis.

[3] The album includes no vocals, instead focusing on extended instrumentation evolving slowly, usually into a crescendo.

Throughout the album, the motifs of urban decay and human extinction are expressed via samples, and the poetic nature of the song titles.

The literature on the subject is almost limitless, but it basically breaks down to this: There have previously been five “mass extinction events” on earth that have been scientifically realized, dating back from 440 million years ago.

The theme of mankind's destruction of nature is concordant with the concept pressing forward the album also.