Most of Fahey's catalog had been out-of-print before renewed interest in him began with the release of the Return of the Repressed compilation project for Rhino Records and an article by Byron Coley called "The Persecutions and Resurrections of Blind Joe Death".

[1][2][3] City of Refuge was Fahey's first release in over five years and helped start his career resurgence, although it bears minimal resemblance to his earlier work.

"[10] and Allmusic stated "Although guaranteed to irritate Fahey fans who only think of him as a "pretty" folk guitarist, City of Refuge is a mature and deep (if misanthropic) work, and one that deserves to be heard.

"[6] CMJ New Music critic Douglas Wolk referred to the album as "...a bold, brash return to the acoustic guitar work of which he's been a master for almost 40 years, and a confident expansion of his talents.

At several points during this interminable, self-indulgent aural experiment, I became convinced that Fahey's purpose was to recreate the exact sensation of a bad LSD trip or an evil hangover on a metaphysical scale.