[1] After the difficult recording of The Process, band members Key and Nivek Ogre chose to focus on solo projects before accepting an offer to perform as Skinny Puppy at the Doomsday Festival in 2000.

Following the troubled recording of their 1996 album The Process, which ended with the death of keyboardist Dwayne Goettel,[2] the surviving members of Skinny Puppy disbanded and sought alternative musical outlets.

Nivek Ogre began work on his Ohgr project with Mark Walk[3] and recorded the album Bedside Toxicology with Martin Atkins;[4] Cevin Key made Download his primary focus[5] and also released his first solo album, Music for Cats, in 1998;[6] and producer Dave "Rave" Ogilvie began working with acts such a Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, and David Bowie.

[8] Afterwards, the pair traveled to Prague where they discussed the possibility of producing a new Skinny Puppy album that would take the band's sound in a new direction.

[16] The band avoided external influences when recording the album, instead opting to seek inspiration from their previous work and hone elements that they thought they could expand on.

[15] Ogre agreed with Key's sentiment: I think the passage of time has painted us into a corner of being something so chaotic and so incredibly dark, but if you go back over our catalog there's a lot of moments where there are softness and a less abrasive and very melodic aspect to what we did.

[28] Following the album's release, Skinny Puppy embarked on a large world tour which included shows in North America, Europe, Japan, and Australia.

A full schedule also caused the band to declined a spot on the 2004 Lollapalooza tour,[21] which was ultimately cancelled due to poor ticket sales.

[37] The anti-Bush administration stance presented during the stageshow, which included caricatures of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney performing a mock execution of Ogre, prompted the conservative group Patriot Americans Boycotting Anti-American Hollywood to attempt a boycott of college radio stations that played Skinny Puppy.

Scott Schinder of Entertainment Weekly said that "While its accessible sound may alienate longtime fans, Greater Wrong suggests this Puppy is heading for a rewarding adulthood",[44] while Spin magazine's Alexander Chow said the album was "More polished and less textured, but still a diabolical nightmare".

[49] Orlando Weekly said that the album "represents a kind of an aesthetic bridge, taking the best elements of contemporary metal, glitch and post-'90s industrial, and combining them in a way that will appeal to dyed-in-the-wool Puppy fans" and newer listeners.

[45] Norman Narvaja of the Cleveland Scene praised the album, saying "In many ways, instead of clinging to old methods, the songs reflect where the players are in 2004", and concluded by saying the record "confronts and challenges both old and new listeners".

He praised songs such as "Empte" and "Use Less" for their lyrics and "tribal beats", and concluded that "the band's ability to again make music of such demanding complexity suggests that all is not lost".

[54] Some critics were less positive, such as Nick Lewis from the Calgary Herald who stated that while the album was "not essential", it "showcases a band that, 22 years later, is still relevant and ahead of its peers".

[43] In his review for the Washington Post, Mark Jenkins said the album was "a credible but generally unsurprising attempt" from the band, but commended more melodic tracks such as "Empte" and "Past Present".

However, he continued that the album sounded "more inspired" than their previous effort and concluded that with "stunning structure from Key, it beats most of the current industrial music competition".

He concluded, "I'm probably prejudice against those who create every part of an entire song with a MIDI controller and recorded samples of music, but I doubt this is anything appealing to the few souls reading this article".