[7] Melody Maker praised "the baroque fragility of Gerard Starkie’s vocals and the effortless, atmospheric swell of Ray Chan’s guitars".

[8] NME declared Before The Calm "an astonishing debut album; stripped of all affectation", and went on to draw comparisons with Joy Division, DJ Shadow and Radiohead.

[4] Other reviewers likened the sound of the LP to Wilco,[3] The Blue Nile,[3] the early releases of R.E.M.,[2] along with fellow Wigan band, The Verve.

[2] Writing for Hi-Fi News and Record in September 1999, Johnny Black was impressed with the album's immediate accessibility, labelling Before The Calm a "truly wonderful debut" and Witness a band whose music was "moody, rootsy, gutsy, rockin'-folk with attitude".

[5] Despite being well received by the music press, album sales were minimal,[5][11] as the band's co-manager, the late Rob Partridge, contemporaneously noted that "Before The Calm doesn't include a really 'radio-friendly' single, so the promotional opportunities are quite limited".