While walking through an airport, vocalist Tom Araya picked up a March 2006 issue of Texas Monthly with a soldier's helmet on the front cover.

[1] The issue explored the involvement of military personnel from Texas in the Iraq War, and included a list of Texan soldiers who had died in the conflict.

Pre-production for Slayer's tenth studio album Christ Illusion had just begun, and the band was about to undertake a three-day rehearsal with producer Josh Abraham.

"[1] The band's guitarist, Kerry King, has said that "these new songs [from the Christ Illusion album] aren't political at all: 'Jihad', 'Eyes of the Insane' — it's what's spewing out at us from the TV.

Zach Hothorn of Prefix magazine said the song "allows Araya to show his vocal range, deepening to build up tension and creating a wonderfully chilling 3 and a half minutes",[7] while Ian Robinson of musicOMH felt the track "is a distinct but welcome change of pace, Dave Lombardo's machine-gun rhythms forming the backbone for Tom Araya's impressively intact scream.

Stylus magazine's Cosmo Lee described the track as "a dark, midpaced exploration of a soldier's psyche", and remarked that "it's memorable and would be a good breather between the usual barnburners".

[14] Peter Atkinson of KNAC.com felt that "'Eyes of the Insane' offers a post-traumatic sequel to 'Mandatory Suicide', again with a soundtrack that recalls the original, but boasting a couple truly mammoth hooks that do shake things up.

"[15] Don Kaye of Blabbermouth made a comparison to a different Slayer track than Atkinson, and commented that "'Eyes of the Insane' and 'Catatonic' both have that slow, grinding feeling of doom that the band has done so well before on classics like 'Dead Skin Mask'.

[17] When asked for his thoughts on the nomination, King revealed that he did not "even care", and noted that Slayer fans "don't give a shit and that's the most important thing to me".

"[18] The ceremony was held on February 11, 2007, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, with Slayer competing against Mastodon, Lamb of God, Ministry and Stone Sour.

[19] Slayer won the Best Metal Performance Grammy award,[20] although the band was unable to attend because of a conflicting North American headlining tour.

[19] Araya commented about the win from a hotel room in Columbus, Ohio: "Jeff [Hanneman] and I put a lot into 'Eyes of the Insane' so we're thrilled that the Grammy voters took the time to listen to it, and then vote for it.