The Afghan Whigs recorded Congregation in sessions held at Bear Creek Studios in Washington state's Woodinville and Buzz's Kitchen in Los Angeles from July to August 1991, with the band's frontman Greg Dulli producing alongside audio engineer Ross Ian Stein.

Expanding on the aggressive sound of the band's previous work, Congregation has more refined musical details and slower-tempo songs, incorporating ballads, R&B, soul, and funk influences.

The album's cover depicts a nude black woman holding a white baby in her arms, interpreted as a comical allusion to the band's African-American music influences.

[4] According to Stereogum, their African-American music influences were comically referred to in Congregation's cover photo,[5] which depicted a nude black woman sitting on a blanket with a white baby held in her arms.

[10] He received two messages on his answering machine from music executive David Katznelson, the first providing directions to a cookout and the second informing Dulli that Davis had died, saying that "Miles is dead.

"[9] Working at Ultrasuede in Cincinnati,[7] Dulli incorporated Katznelson's line as a lyric and, with a guitar riff from Rick McCollum, hastily recorded "Miles Iz Ded", which was included as a hidden track on the album.

[17] The album's music incorporates heavy counterpoint rhythms, indie rock harmonics,[18] wah-wah and slide guitars,[19] and staccato riffs with funk, metal, and blues influences.

[21] Option perceives influences from "ex-indie guitar bands" such as Dinosaur Jr. and Nirvana in the songs' "catch-iness and in the arrangements' juxtaposition of frenzy and laziness.

"[19] David Sprague of the Trouser Press comments that the band's instrumentation "contriv[es] panoramic images through judicious use of wah-wah guitar ... and the tribal drumbeats with which Steven Earle invokes an air of ritualistic surrender.

[23] According to The Vinyl District writer Joseph Neff, on Congregation, the Afghan Whigs expand on contemporary alternative and indie rock with an integrated dimension of R&B, soul, and funk.

[21][25][30] In Stereogum writer Peter Helman's analysis, Congregation debuts the predominance of Dulli's "leviathan libido" over an album-length work, avoiding the multi-layer metaphors of classic rock-inspired contemporaries such as Eddie Vedder and instead expressing emotions in an R&B style: "Artists like the Supremes, the Temptations, and even the Four Tops often wrote songs that seethed with domestic drama and pent-up sexual energy.

"[32] David Sprague of the Trouser Press calls Congregation a "strangely flamboyant" album that showcases "Dulli's metamorphosis from everypunk wallflower to rakish scoundrel with a heart of glass.

"[22] Jason Ankeny of AllMusic calls Dulli "a truly magnetic presence" and writes of his performance on the album, "by turns predator ('Tonight') and prey ('I'm Her Slave'), he's the guy your parents always warned you about, delivering each syllable of his remarkable lyrics with equal measures of innuendo and venom.

[29] "This Is My Confession" has a theme of absolution,[14] depicted as an empty sexual experience: "Shove my head against the door, crawl inside and kiss the floor / Waiting for the sun again, drink it, smoke it, stick it in.

[29] "Tonight" depicts a peaceful night as the backdrop for the narrator's corrupt one-track mind: "Follow me down to the bushes, dear / No one will know, we'll disappear / I'll hold your hand, we'll never tell / Our private little trip to hell".

[1] Reviewing in September 1992, Daniel Fidler from Spin viewed the record as "a clean move toward musical excellence", showing the Afghan Whigs "bursting its Sub Pop chains with catchy, heavy guitar riffs, downright lovable song arrangements, melodies that jerk your emotions back and forth, and yes, endearing, raspy vocals that wail, moan, scream, and shout".

[32] Michael Azerrad called it "superb" in Rolling Stone,[4] while Brad Webber of the Chicago Tribune found the album more accessible to listeners than contemporary Seattle or Minneapolis-based, guitar-oriented grunge bands.

[21] In Musician magazine, J. D. Considine said the band is "clever enough to find hooks in the sort of gnarled riffs and guitar noise Fugazi plays for atmosphere", as well as "canny enough to avoid most of the mannerisms that make much Amerindie rock seem so cliched."

[50] With the album's critical acclaim and the band's steady touring,[51] the Afghan Whigs attained a cult following and was courted by several major labels who wanted to sign them.

Ankeny also cited it as "the grunge era's most overlooked masterpiece" and an indication of the band's musical growth, writing that "while still unmistakably a member of the Sub Pop stable, there's a greater maturity and depth to their sinewy sound, with a newfound grasp of mood and nuance".

[16] In The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), Joe Gross called it a "quantum leap" over the band's previous work, commenting that it "shows that they ditched grunge for soul because they were no damn good at the former and ladies dig the latter.