[2] Michael Wojtas of Under the Radar praised the album, stating, "Humble consistency and commitment to craft have long been Woods' defining virtues, so the boldness of the band's ninth full-length, City Sun Eater in the River of Light, is an invigorating rush.

Without entirely abandoning the psych-folk influences that have colored prior releases, City Sun Eater dives into the grittier side of '70s jazz fusion, the darkest corridors of dub, and funk's paranoiac underbelly.

In contrast to the bucolic preceding works, it's an album that summons big city dread, the kind that steams up from beneath the streets and clings to teeming throngs of pedestrians.

Every single layer here swims together to create an unceasingly fluid song cycle of ebb-and-flow paranoia and pleasure"[10] Tim Sendra of AllMusic gave the album a favorable review, stating, "The chances they take and the choices they make might leave their more conservative fans behind.

While not inherently a bad thing, all too often it’s a lazy shortcut to immersion and a lot of the band’s fellow Brooklynites are guilty of falling into; these guys deserve credit for eschewing the easy route.