[3] Upon its release, the album received critical acclaim, with the song "Betrayer" being nominated at 61st Annual Grammy Awards in 2019 for Best Metal Performance.

[4] In late July 2017, the band began releasing teasers online with cryptic images, lyrical passages, and video clips, with the accompanying Roman numeral "VIII.I".

This would later be confirmed as representing August 1, the release date for a new single, "The Sin and the Sentence", with both the song and accompanying music video featuring Bent on drums.

[5] A second series of online teasers by the band would come just a few weeks afterwards, utilizing similar cryptic video clips with accompanying lyrical passages.

[8] In an interview, bassist Paolo Gregoletto stated that new material is more 'extreme' and that the band would return to featuring screaming vocals on the new album.

They also added that "the addition of Bent, a powerhouse, hammer-of-the-gods-style kit man, and the newfound conviction of vocalist Matt Heafy, seem to have put a charge into the group," and that "The riffage is meaner and leaner, and the songs themselves -- especially the singles 'Heart from Your Hate' and the combustible title track—feel both lived-in and visceral, with highlights arriving via the serpentine, gang-vocal-led 'Beyond Oblivion' and the throat-mangling closer 'Thrown Into the Fire'.