 Garrick van der Tuin replaced Glenn Welman as a live drummer which influenced the harsher sounds heard on the album.Thematically, "Roadside Heretics" deals with a discriminated-against and isolated people – a subject well known to South Africa.According to Nyte, "Roadside Heretics" marked a new era for The Awakening, as he focused on capturing the trademark live performance intensity within the album’s sound.