[2] The album was dedicated to the memory of fellow metal band Atheist's bassist Roger Patterson, who had been killed in a car crash earlier in 1991.

Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic described the album's sound as "a truly devastating display of technical death metal bordering on grindcore.

"[6] Tom Campagna of Invisible Oranges said "as far removed as Morbid Angel was from thrash, Suffocation spilled the blood even farther.

[9] Effigy of the Forgotten has received critical acclaim and is considered by many to be one of the most influential death metal albums of all time.

Decibel Magazine would later say: "Effigy of the Forgotten was a benchmark for extreme music, as it sacrificed neither virtuosity or brutality, becoming a signpost for thousands who were still contemplating how to incorporate scalar runs, rapid-fire palm-muting and hummingbird-wing-quick picking into riffs, while opening up rhythmic dimensions and the scope of the blast beat.