 The Ichthyologist contains guest vocal appearances by Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gathering, Agua De Annique) and Karyn Crisis (Crisis), violin by Kris Force (Amber Asylum, Neurosis), and flute by Lorraine Rath (Amber Asylum, The Gault, Worm Ouroboros), trumpet by Nate Perkins (The Lesdystics) and oboe by Cat Gratz (Jackie's sister).Despite the band's unsigned status at this point, national print music magazines such as Revolver, Decibel, and Terrorizer ran features and reviews of "The Ichthyologist", boosting sales greatly for the band.The initial 1000 copies sold out by July 2009.