Leading up to the album's release, Mike Scalzi debuted a series of articles on popular metal webzine Invisible Oranges.

These pieces, entitled "Bullpen Bulletins" featured Scalzi philosophizing about the current state of the metal scene, particularly about the elements that he felt are causing stagnation of musical creativity.

While some readers saws these postings as too critical of the genre, Scalzi reiterated that by voicing his opinions he was trying to stir up debate and engage in discussion with fans of differing viewpoints.

"[4] The Animal Spirits is the first Slough Feg album to exclusively feature art done by lead singer and guitarist Mike Scalzi.

Larry Griffin of The Metal Crypt gave the album five out of five, praising it for "something very natural and organic about the sound of The Animal Spirits, with its jangling guitars and earthy bass tone and scratchy drums.

"[6] Adam Kohrman, another reviewer from The Metal Crypt, gave The Animal Spirits a slightly lower, but still favorable, score of four and one-quarter out of five.

"[8] On a critical note, Whitehouse mentions that not all of the tracks on the album stand out, specifically citing "Ask the Casket" and "Heavyworlder" as creating a "mid-album slump".

[8] PopMatters gave the album seven out of ten stars, stating that for Slough Feg, "It's not their goal to reinvent the wheel, rather they're simply happy riding it ragged, no matter how predictable the music becomes.