The album was released on June 30, 2015 through Deathwish Inc.[2][3] For Heaven Is Earth, Self Defense Family recorded two tracks with four producers in four different cities on the East Coast of the United States for a total of eight songs.

"[5] According to SLUG magazine's Kamryn Feigel, Heaven Is Earth is "a downtempo, post-punk menagerie of droning drums and screaming vocals.

"[6] AllMusic critic Mark Deming wrote that, on the record, Self Defense Family "build a chain-link fence of sound, with decisive bass and drum patterns woven through guitar figures strummed or pummeled into minimal melodic structures as vocalist and first-among-equals Patrick Kindlon rants and bellows over it all.

"[7] Pitchfork's Ian Cohen noted the influence of shoegazing over the album, stating: "There’s all the whammy bar abuse and tonal clusters of the genre, but it’s gone straight-edge, with none of the disorientation and gushing ambience.

AllMusic's Mark Deming wrote: "Maybe you can't pogo or mosh to it, but Heaven Is Earth is the kind of music that will please those with a taste for aural experimentation and annoy the narrow-minded, and that is punk rock in all the best ways.