Regarding his recording contributions to Slave Ambient former guitarist Kurt Vile stated, "I was stoked to play on those songs ["Best Night" and "It's Your Destiny"], but I was more involved in the early days.

Club's Steven Hyden also gave the album a positive review, writing "With Adam Granduciel’s Dylan-esque drawl and a small orchestra of shimmering, vaguely noodly guitars as the group’s sonic trademarks, The War On Drugs is an unabashed trad-rock outfit.

"[21] In a more mixed review, Slant Magazine's Matthew Cole wrote "Too often, ambient passages like 'The Animator' and 'City Reprise' sound too obviously like interludes intended to fill space between real songs, rather than finished compositions in their own right."

However, Cole concluded his review with: "...War on Drugs is a well-studied rock crew with an honest experimental streak, unfazed by the fact that relatively few of their potential fans will count Nebraska and Daydream Nation among their favorite records.

"[23] Spin gave the album a score of 7/10, writing, "Main man Adam Granduciel gets plenty of Dylan comparisons, but Slave Ambient feels like a more back-alley Byrds filtered through a gauzier Spacemen 3 lens.