[1] Atheist desired to disband, but they were required to complete their junior album in order to fulfill a contract to their record label.

Shaefer plays rhythm guitar, while Emmi and Burkey share responsibilities for leads and solos.

[citation needed] Eduardo Rivadavia described the album for Allmusic as remaining "admirably true to the band's famously complicated arrangements, syncopated rhythms, and ultra-precise attack, but also boast[ing] a cleaner musicality never before attempted by the group".

[citation needed] Elements was described by James Hinchcliffe in Terrorizer as "less frantic and jazz-leaning than Unquestionable Presence, and packed with unexpectedly Latin rhythms" that caused the album to "hurtle...to the edge of metal".

[3] Eduardo Rivadavia praised the band for "delivering another highly accomplished set that illustrated both a natural evolution of their sound and served as a worthy final chapter to their all-too-brief and very troubled trajectory".