[3] The cover art was painted "in oil and mixed materials" by Zbigniew M. Bielak, who was also responsible for the artwork of Lawless Darkness.

[6] Watain's previous album Lawless Darkness was a significant critical and commercial success for the band.

[7][8] Following the success of Lawless Darkness, as well as notable live performances at Wacken and Bloodstock in 2012, the band signed with Century Media Records in November 2012, confirming that their fifth full-length album would be released through the label in 2013.

[9][10][11] Music critics have noted that represents some significant stylistic changes compared to the band's previous albums.

AllMusic's Gregory Heaney wrote that the band "continues to bend and expand the form, tempering the icy chill of classic black metal with atmospheric touches, creating an experience that feels epic and sprawling compared to the suffocating sounds one typically associates with the genre.

By adding in touches of doom, prog, and symphonic metal, Watain is able to push the boundaries of black metal while still keeping things on the extreme end of the spectrum, providing them with a kind of accessibility that doesn't require them to sacrifice any of the more terrifying aspects of their sound in the process.

It’s very much about us looking back on this journey that we have been on for these last 15 years and the songs all relate, in one way or another, to very defined experiences and ideas; struggles, trials and tribulations that we have been through during this time.

Danielsson added that the recording process was "emotionally very demanding and challenging", crediting this for "that extra dimension of diversity and you never know what you expect from it really.

[23] The band released a promotional flexi disc for Decibel subscribers featuring a cover of GG Allin's 'Fuck Off, We Murder' in the magazine's September issue.

[26] The album's second single 'The Child Must Die' was premiered on Stereogum on 17 July, described by the band as "a song of sorrow and liberation, of the sacrifices that the path of adversity requires.

Erik Danielsson described it as "a knife stab in the face of today's clean and witty metal scene and yet another step for us to bring back something real and extreme into this limping music movement.

This controversial performance went on to draw attention from news outlets due to the band drenching the crowd in pig's blood, and allegedly causing members of the audience to begin throwing up.

wrote that the band "have opted to explore a more varied, but no less infernal sound on their fifth studio record", describing it as "a more diverse, exploratory effort than their previous offerings, employing down-tempo, moodier pieces like "The Child Must Die," alongside searing, charging monsters like "Sleepless Evil"."

It is, and sullies what is already, at best, an average melodic black metal album devoid of personality and a sense of viciousness or mystique."

The effort is laudable, at least: Remember, Watain didn’t emerge as a fully formed great band, but they’ve grown into something of one.

Metal Hammer's Amit Sharma described it as "the most important album of Watains’s career: one which will see them rise into the mainstream or cast back into the pits of the underground."

The review concluded that with "more texture than anything Watain have recorded before, The Wild Hunt is the sound of Sweden’s deadliest soldiers of the night bringing their darkness closer to the light of day."