[3] According to drummer Magnus Lindberg, the remote location, coupled with the sighting of "Wicca witch women dancing in the woods" and the actual acoustics of the barn itself all contributed towards creating the perfect ambience to lay down the basic tracks which were done primarily live, as a unit.

"[5] Writing for Decibel, Andrew Bonazelli posited that the album "finally exceeded the American post-metal standard", after "early efforts Cult of Luna and The Beyond mirrored the aggro facet of the Neur-Isis template, and 2004's Salvation practically suffocated on its own infatuation with sustained tension, Highway makes its points straight away, evoking a rich gamut of bad moods, then marching purposefully toward the gray at the end of the tunnel.

"[17] He praises it as "far and away their most original and gripping effort", and complements the timing of the release being before that of contemporaries Isis' In the Absence of Truth, citing it as a reason that "nobody's going to call copycat".

[12] For AllMusic, Rick Anderson draws distinctions between Cult of Luna and Swedish compatriots Meshuggah and Amon Amarth, proffering that "the overriding concern seems to be more with building a carefully constructed soundscape rather than just venting spleen".

His review is not quite as glowing as Bonazelli's, determining that "if the pattern gets a bit predictable and tiresome by the album-ending instrumental [sic] 'Dark City Dead Man', it's still a powerful and compelling one".