"I-III-V Seed of Chaos" was conceived as the album opener, but it was one of the last tracks to be prepared. "Cold Blood" was the last song to be written and was originally slower in its demo version. "Shadowmaker" was the first song to be written. Toppinen explained he wanted the song to sound both as an instrumental and a vocal track. It was co-written by Johnny Andrews, with whom the band wrote song such as "End of Me" and "I'm Not Jesus". "Slow Burn" is a "ballad that isn't a ballad" and was composed as a pair of "Shadowmaker". "Reign of Fear", which was longer in its original version, is influenced by 1980's thrash metal bands.
