Wars of the Roses is the first album to feature new member, British composer and multi-instrumentalist Daniel O'Sullivan (Æthenor, Guapo, Mothlite).

Murat Batmaz, writing for Sea of Tranquility webzine, commented, "It amalgamates musical traits from its predecessors while re-shaping them with a more direct approach.

"[2] Conor Fynes, writing for Prog Sphere, comments, "The strength of Wars of the Roses is in its grand instrumentation and clever electronic arrangements.

"[3] William Ruhlmann, writing for AllMusic, commented, "Over more than a decade and a half, listeners have learned to expect the unexpected from Ulver, who started out as a Norwegian heavy metal band but have turned far more experimental.

But more of the album is given over to selections like 'Norwegian Gothic' and especially the nearly 15-minute closer, 'Stone Angels', with slow, ambient tracks featuring sound effects and poetic, spoken word vocals written by poet Keith Waldrop.

The closest antecedent, notably on 'England' and 'Island', with their slow, ponderous tempos and calm vocals, is Pink Floyd, making Ulver as of 2011 something of a neo-progressive rock band.

"[5] Webzine Metal Storm commented, "Wars of the Roses almost seems to be a bit of a retrospective of the past dozen years of the band's existence.