[3] Graeme Thomson of The Observer described the album as "an astonishingly stark record" that is "[b]uilt on the barest of electronic bones and brought to life through [Dreijer]'s almost primal vocals, the songs search for a spiritual pulse amid soulless modernity.

Club's Chris Martins viewed it as being "countless times more claustrophobic and creepy than Silent Shout" and stated that "[t]he vocal transformer is such a huge part of what [Dreijer] does—androgynizing [their] words to accompany the cold music, mimicking the synth warbles and sustained tones that abound.

"[5] The Independent critic Rupert Howe expressed, "Even beyond the gothic imagery and glacial electronics, this mesmeric solo project shares much with the Knife's last album Silent Shout", including "surreal lyrics" and "weird vocal treatments which pitch [Dreijer]'s voice down to a baleful masculine groan".

[16] Alexander Tudor wrote for Drowned in Sound that "minimal beats on each track prove to have been constructed with incredible attention to detail, as are the smooth synth washes, and electronic simulacra of birdcall or animal noises.

"[4] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian felt that the album's "dolorous chords and stately rhythms recall the Cure, circa Faith, the glacial pace makes you think of the Blue Nile", noting that, "as unlikely a step as Fever Ray may seem for one of electronic music's most enigmatic figures, the results are triumphant.

Without brother Olof as a guiding hand on the droning sequencers the tunes fall a bit by the wayside", but wrote that "this very tiny drawback doesn't stop Fever Ray from being the kind of brilliant album that it may not make sense to play if you're prone to nightmares.

"[18] The Guardian named Fever Ray the second best album of 2009, calling it "[g]lacial, creepy and impish" and commenting, "Between the cavernous synths, the echoes and loops, the polyrhythms and snarling vocal processing, [Dreijer] managed to capture the feeling of being totally alone while also projecting a childlike wonder.