"Refractory Obdurate is Edwards’ “heavy record”, with tumescent electric guitars and unforgiving drums, howled lines and massive codas. The album finally makes good on the post-punk and metal influences that have forever lingered at the edges of Wovenhand’s output." - see full review at Pitchfork
"There’s no twang in frontman David Eugene Edwards’s voice; instead, he’s got a grand and faraway carnival-barker wail that reminds me, just slightly, of one of his past tourmates, Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan. There’s some Gira in there, too, and some Birthday Party-era Nick Cave, and some late-Lungfish Daniel Higgs, and some recent-vintage Mark Lanegan. At a certain point, though, you stop mentally breaking the songs on this album down into their component parts, into possible genres or influences, and you just let them wash over you and fill you up." - see full review at Stereogum
"...there is nothing timid in this music, and Edwards puts no stock in half-measures. This is music ripped from one man's heart and soul, and if it sometimes makes you uncomfortable, that means Wovenhand have done their job well." - see full review at All Music
Refractory Obdurate is one of the most unique records you are likely to hear all year. Give this one a chance and you will be won over by its odd mixtures of sound and dark meditations of faith. It’s heavy in ways that go beyond the guitar, bass, and drums. - see full review on Verbicide Magazine
To see Refractory Obdurate by neo-folkie David Eugene Edwards released on a label known primarily for hardcore is still a strange maneuver. But it makes sense. Intentionally or not, his work in Wovenhand slots in with the forward-thinking bands like Deafheaven and Self Defense Family that Deathwish has been releasing lately. For the new audience sure to pick up on his apocalyptic Christian tunes, Refractory is a fantastic entrance point, a gut punch of a rock album that layers his typical mandolin-banjo strums with distorted guitars and a pummeling rhythm section. I never expected to say this, but it kicks ass.
- see full review at CVLT Nation
"I don’t believe in God, but I have complete faith in Wovenhand lead singer and songwriter David Eugene Edwards. Which is alarming, because Refractory Obdurate sounds a clamorous warning that something is nigh. Rather than a direct message, Edwards offers only a shatter of brimstone pieces; but take my word, we’re talking some cataclysmic shit. - see full review at Consequence of Sound
"Refractory Obdurate fully displays every strength Edwards and crew have to give, and from the beginning of the first track you understand you are in for a experience. One of the things that Wovenhand does so well is create heavy music without being abrasive, and soft music without being mellow. " - see full review at - Indie Vision Music