Evanescence received generally positive reviews from music critics. Review aggregator
Metacritic, which applies a
weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gave the album a score of 63 based on nine reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".
Steve Beebee of
Kerrang! complimented the songwriting and the band's performance, and called the album "easily their most cohesive and confident work". Rick Florino of
Artistdirect wrote that "there's a pronounced vitality surging through these twelve songs, rising from the band's willingness to go out on a musical limb" and they "manage to experiment while staying unshakably infectious".
Montreal Gazettes Mark Lepage praised the album's musicality, calling it "one rolling, chugging, plangent epic."
Entertainment Weekly Kyle Anderson wrote, "When uses baroque orchestral accoutrements to wage an air assault on her demons ... she's more than just the token girl in the pit." In
Digital Spy, Lewis Corner said that outside of the electronic excursions Evanescence's "melodious rock sensibilities remain firmly in tact[sic]" and "we wouldn't want it any other way."
IGNs Chad Grischow stated that
Evanescence "delivers on the orchestral-laced hard rock thrust and Amy Lee's soaring vocals ... with a few surprising experiments along the way". Writing for
Winnipeg Free Press, Rob Williams said the mix of musical styles "makes everything sound big and alive" and "with so many extra bells and whistles, despair has never sounded so epic." Theon Weber of
Spin thought that Lee's performance was not restrained enough and "Evanescence gets lost in the cavernous spaces carved out by their unsecret weapon." Nick Catucci of
Rolling Stone said that Lee "remains one of hard rock’s leading ladies" but he did not find the album's "sometimes syrupy mix of piano, guitar and strings" to be as cathartic or "saucy" as Evanescence's previous album.
Edna Gundersen of
USA Today wrote that when "tempered, emotional wail enhances the hypnotic medieval magic of signature Evanescence tunes. Some electronics slip into the mix, but the band's rock essence and penchant for weepy strings remain prominent, as does its flair for conveying wretched despair."
PopMatters Dane Prokofiev disliked much of the rock-driven music, but praised Lee's voice and a "noticeable increase in the prominence of choir singing, tinkling piano motifs, and the silky sound of string instruments" toward
symphonic metal. Steven Hyden of
The A.V. Club dismissed the album as "narcissistic" and "grim and humorless". In
The Boston Globe, Marc Hirsh wrote that Lee and the rest of the band found "creative foil" with each other and the album captures "each party elevating the other far above where their proclivities would get them on their own."
AllMusic's
Stephen Thomas Erlewine praised Raskulinecz's production and the album having "some shade and light" and "variety of tempos, enough to give Evanescence the illusion of warmth, not to mention a fair share of crossover hooks." Writing for
Los Angeles Times, Mikael Wood said that while he had preferred a "livelier" album,
Evanescence has standouts of "pain-soaked pleasure" and "ice-queen sarcasm" and "Lee hasn't lost her faith in
goth-metal melodrama."
NME complimented its heaviness and minimal ballads.
Guitar Worlds Scott Iwasaki wrote that the album infuses classical music and 1990s influences and "brings Evanescence to a new level".
Metal Hammer listed it as one of the 50 best metal albums of the 2010s, praising the band's stylistic fusion and pairing with Raskulinecz, and deeming the album "sturdy and slick".
Kerrang! ranked it at number 11 on its list of the best albums of the year, and defined it as "their richest, most diverse body of work to date". ==Commercial performance==