[5] The band wrote the album's songs in less than a month, drawing inspiration from their self-imposed isolation during the songwriting process, and crafted a more mature sound which drew from jazz and progressive rock influences, as well as elements of death metal and thrash metal.

"[8] Vocalist Chad Gray said, "The making of The End of All Things to Come was an exercise in deadline management for the band.

[8] The song "Trapped in the Wake of a Dream" has choruses written in 178, verses in 118 and a bridge that mixes both time signatures.

It's a strange time signature but it works because it's smooth", while Gray added that it was the hardest song on the album to record.

50,[13] Launch.com, which said that "While the group attacks things with great velocity and singer Chud shreds his larynx at regular intervals, the always difficult follow-up album features actual melodies and mature textures that make the band's eventual transformation into a progressive rock band nearly inevitable"[12] and MTV, which described the album as "a scarring blend of Pantera, Voivod and Tool, with a smattering of King's X".

[17] The Daily News Journal also gave the album a positive review, writing, "The End of All Things to Come captures Mudvayne at a time when the band has found its voice and is hitting its stride with confidence.

"[18] Mixed reviews came from AllMusic, which wrote, "The musicians still churn out standard-issue heavy metal thrash à la Metallica to support Chüd's nihilistic pronouncements, usually sung in an enraged howl,"[3] from Blender, which wrote, "The End is rather ordinary--severe, belligerent riffs and vocals that sound as though singer Chud gargles molten lava,"[12] and Rolling Stone, which wrote, "Enjoy the band's extraterrestrial makeover; it's far more amusing than the music.