's Ian Gormely noted that vocalist Michael Berdan's "harrowing vocals" were "pushed to the back of the mix in favour of general noise and drums that run the gamut from industrial motorik to grindcore blast beats.

The tracks such as "Habit" and "Bootlicker" deal with alcoholism, while "Tabloid" relates to a person's downward spiral with negative thoughts.

[5] Many titles from Wake in Fright were appropriated from media such as exploitation films and pulp novels, including The Light at the End, The Killing of America and The Lost.

"[9] The Line of Best Fit critic Ian King has stated: "The album digs for transcendence by jackhammering away at the ills and addictions that afflict individuals and hold us back collectively.

"[8] Andy O'Connor of Pitchfork thought that both band members "have found new sides to themselves" with respect to their past work and wrote: "Their fevered, relentless sophomore record is the sound of clawing for survival and sanity.

"[14] The Quietus's Tom Howells stated: "As it stands, Wake In Fright is a misanthropic social/personal/political blank cheque as bleak in outlook as it is righteously harrowing in sound.