Eyehategod was formed in 1988[2][3] and recorded two demos, Garden Dwarf Woman Driver and Lack of Almost Everything, released in the years 1989 and 1990, respectively.

In 2006, as a part of Century Media's 20th anniversary, the album was reissued with the original cover art and the entirety of the band's 1990 demo Lack of Almost Everything as bonus tracks.

[6] Since its initial release, In the Name of Suffering has received praise for its rough style, and is seen as one of the first, as well as one of the most important, sludge metal albums of the 1990s.

[10] Heavy metal website Hellbound.ca mentioned how In the Name of Suffering, along with its follow-up Take as Needed for Pain, created the framework for "one of the most interesting, yet disturbing, bands around".

"[7] All lyrics are written by Mike Williams; all music is composed by Jimmy Bower, Joseph LaCaze, Mark Schultz and Steve Dale