[5] The writing process for both albums was described as "extremely quick" by drummer Santos Montano since all members are busy with other bands, and that most of what ended up being recorded was "almost entirely spontaneous.

I think [Bruni] got a built-in audience to some degree, and also I feel like he has a broad enough reach where the people who already like us would easily find us through that outlet.

"[5] "Our task is not an enviable one — to bring light to a world so suffocated in darkness — none the less, a two-volume extrapolation of our previous and ongoing teachings is the least action we could undertake in this dire hour of need.

You have some bogus version we gave to press, cuz we knew those jerks would leak it (if you reviewed that fake record positively, thank you.

They elaborated: "To be fair we, Old Man Gloom spent a lot of time on the music and putting together the 'fake' version of the album.

"[11][12] Guitarist Nate Newton said that their public statement about calling the promo a "fake record" was slightly misleading.

Turner said: "Not sure what's going [on] over at Amazon... All I can think of is that there were alternate versions of the art and track sequence/track titles when we were in the developmental stages of the album and that's confusing things.

Writing for the English publication Clash, Mike Diver gave this version a nine-out-of-ten and stated: "This is a band with an amazing, electrifying song called 'The Volcano' [from 2004's Christmas] to its name, but with this collection Old Man Gloom has surpassed the molten fury of any of their five previous LPs.

"[17] For the American metal blog MetalSucks, a writer under the pseudonym "Kip Wingerschmidt" gave the album four-out-of-five horns stated: "Being that The Ape of God incorporates a healthy amount of abstract interlude-esque soundscapes within the songs, clearly this is far from a traditionally structured album, so bring some patience and get ready for ample experimental noise alongside the fantastically pummeling grounded parts of each track.

"[19] Writing for the Canadian publication Exclaim!, Denise Falzon gave the album an eight-out-of-ten and stated: "Just as devastating, heavy and angry as their previous releases, The Ape of God maintains the band's unique weird sound, which combines huge epic rhythms with experimental noise, ambient elements and dark atmosphere.

[...] The theme of the fall of mankind matches the album's sense of despair and apocalyptic sound, making The Ape of God even more of an intriguing listen.

Guitarist Nate Newton said that some journalists felt that Old Man Gloom had "besmirched their profession" and also said that: "People either love [the joke] or they're fucking angry.

"[13] Adrien Begrand of the American heavy metal magazine Decibel was one such journalist, and in a round-up of new album releases for November 2014 said: "I'd been thoroughly digging what I was hearing, but when the band revealed that the promo was merely a fake in order to hoodwink writers and weed out leakers, I didn't appreciate being jerked around and having my precious time wasted by a bunch of smug musicians who think they're being funny.