[4] Commenting on the lyrics, Allmusic stated that "[they] burn with resentment directed at those who (in the estimation of vocalist Karl Buechner) bring contamination and death to the earth and the defenseless creatures that reside on it.

[5] By the time of the tour in 1995, Buechner was personally taking care of twelve rescued animals from Syracuse Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, where he volunteered.

In March 2015, celebrating the release of The Discipline EP which re-released songs from Destroy the Machines, several musicians and animal right activists paid tribute to it, including Davey Havok of AFI, Andy Hurley of Fall Out Boy, Peter Daniel Young and Toby Morse of H2O.

[16] "The Wrath of Sanity" is quoted in the songs "No Contest" (2005) by Gather[17][unreliable source] and "Rules of Conviction" (2017) by First Blood and Jesse Barnett, the latter of which was dedicated to Earth Crisis and Path of Resistance.

[19] An increase of animal rights activism corresponded with the rise of vegan straight edge bands during the 1990s,[20] a phenomenon which activist Peter Daniel Young attributes largely to Destroy the Machines.