"[8] The Arizona Daily Star determined that Malik's "words are racy enough to turn a sailor incarnadine, yet his rap is fantastically caustic poetry.

"[11] The New York Post noted that Orange 9mm "is still their hard-core selves on this 10-song collection, which taps hip-hop, industrial and good old-fashioned Stairway-to-Hell metal.

"[17] The San Diego Union-Tribune stated that "the lurching guitars in the Fugazi-like 'Lifeless', the explosive title track and even the slow build-up in 'Touching Skies', a rather preachy song about self-determination, have a raw, punk edge to them that you won't find in other so-called new metal bands.

"[20] AllMusic wrote that, "even if Malik has a better lyrical flow than most rap-metal singers, the results tend to sound stiff and forced when there are no funky backing rhythms for him to play off of.

"[12] In 2021, Decibel called Pretend I'm Human "extraordinarily eclectic," noting that the reissue "brings the guitars to the fore [to] make it a perfect ahead-of-its-time candidate for reevaluation.