[11] AllMusic reviewer Johnny Loftus described the album's sound as punk rock and said it borrowed a "page from NOFX's War on Errorism, promoting an agenda of awareness amidst its fist-pumping, sun-drenched anthems".

[13] Lollipop Magazine writer Ewan Wadharmi classified it as hard rock and compared the guitar riffs to the work of Bon Jovi and Thin Lizzy.

[15][16] Larry Getlen of CityLink Magazine said the music was a "generation removed from that of the band's hardcore predecessors, with many of the drum fills and guitar licks owing more to metal than punk".

[17] Dragge said the lyrics for From the Ashes were written as a reaction to Land of the Free?, which received a minor backlash from some people due to its political nature.

[19] He attributed some of the "more heartfelt" lyrics to the band's state of mind following the September 11 attacks, and mentioned that the death of their former bassist Jason Thirsk was a "pretty profound moment" for them.

[19][20] The album's lyrics also covers the Bush administration's handling of the attacks, in addition to ideology beliefs, such as gun control, news media bias and government abuse.

[23] The album concludes with "Judgement Day", a song that Klunk said warns listeners that the "world is no longer ours, that we've had our fun, and it's time to realize there are consequences for messing with the planet's equilibrium".

[35] Sohum Shah of The Cannabist said the album contributed to the "resurgence of politically-charged punk rock recorded during the George W. Bush presidency", alongside The War on Errorism and The Terror State (2003) by Anti-Flag.

[36] From the Ashes featured a DVD with studio footage, live performances and a trailer for a forthcoming video album; it was promoted with multiple releases shows across California.

[12] Haukland said that while "it’s hard not to compare From the Ashes with Land of the Free?, the latter album doesn’t necessarily benefit from such comparison", explaining that the band come across as "more comfortable with their new-found sense of social commentary here".

[27] The Boston Phoenix writer Sean Richardson said the band "play to their strengths", referring to Lindberg's "neurotic howl" their "maximum-impact" punk sound.

[52] Vinnie Apicella of In Music We Trust said the album "goes Mach-1 with melody, mindfulness and taut musicianship that are unmistakably Punk yet threateningly offensive to fast talking order takers of the big label, bloated budget variety".

He added that every track "live up to the criterion of 'catchy' and 'intoxicating'", while Jeff Perlah Revolver said Dragge was "still spewing the kind of chunky, speedy licks that made Pennywise indie-punk heroes a decade ago".

[53][54] Rock Hard reviewer Michael Rensen noted that their last few releases "sound pretty interchangeable", and From the Ashes offers listeners "highly melodic, socially critical Calicore rubble".

[24] The staff at Modern Fix held a similar view, stating that it features "very little experimentation in sound and formula, and you almost wish that Pennywise would find the motivation to put a new spin on things".

[60] Drowned in Sound writer Mat Hocking felt that with repeated listens, the songs seemed weaker than tracks found on About Time, Full Circle or their fifth studio album Straight Ahead (1999), "and as such you start to wish they had experimented a little further".

[14] Nick Catucci of Blender said in the context of Blink-182 and NOFX, "those bands bring humor and warmth into the mix; Pennywise still rely on pro forma antiauthority anthems".