The band has described the album as "the end result of the Seepia clearing, the Vint-Age of our ideal barren landscape and atmosphere, a time heralding antiquated and stern artifacts which yield only the foul.

"[1] Portal were unhappy with how their previous album, 2003's Seepia, as they intended for a darker, more atmospheric sound.

"After some years of exploration and many songs scrapped we had finally found what we were looking for, with a more simplisitc, minimal and ritualistic approach, letting the music breathe and utilizing more powerful simplistic drum patterns had opened up the door to make pure darkness with our sound, we used the speed and technicality when it was appropriate, something "Seepia" lacked with unintelligent choices in drum arrangements.

Begrand compared the band's lyrical approach to William Burroughs, described the production as "unrelentingly stifling", and wrote that "Not unlike black metal, it’s more preoccupied with atmosphere and less with technical proficiency, the songs constantly projecting a supremely creepy vibe, from the awkward cadence of the percussion, to the haunting thrum of bass (or as the liner notes put it, the “Writhing Undertow of Omnitidings & Rift”), to the lo-fi churning of guitars (wait, is that a melody in “13 Globes”?).

They suggested that the album's production style had both its strengths and weaknesses, writing that "Blastbeats sometimes bubble up, as do death growls here and there.