Described by guitar player Duane Denison as "an escape from the realities of the world", Tonic Immobility has been well received critically, particularly for its diverse-sounding songs, and has charted in several countries including Australia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

[2] Much of the music for the album was recorded three years before the vocals, while singer Mike Patton was working with other bands, including releasing The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo with Mr. Bungle.

[3] Tonic Immobility was released on March 26, 2021 through the Ipecac Recordings label;[2][4] by CD, digital download, and several limited-edition vinyl LP editions.

[14] Writing for Clash magazine, Ben Hopkins rated the album eight out of ten, calling it "a consistently immersive pull into a world that you don’t want to be in, but that you can’t quite escape".

Hopkins felt that Denison's guitar work was the driving force behind the album's sound, comparing it to the mood of a David Lynch film and noting that it spans several genres across the length of the record.