The album was released on December 10, 2013 by Facedown Records, and it was produced by Joshua Barber. This was the debut studio album from the Christian metal project by Shane Ochsner.
Music and lyrics
Dan Slessor of Outburn said that "With a rich, epic sound shot through with crunchy riffs, ethereal atmospherics, and perfect melody that one moment whips and snarls, the next breaks your heart, Ochsner has created a record that bleeds with potent emotion."
Phoenix garnered critical acclaim by music critics. Danny McMartin of Cross Rhythms rated the album nine squares out of ten, and stated that this is "An impressive end from a band which could be Christian rock's next serious contender." At HM, Justin Mabee rated the album four-and-a-half-stars, which the album was an HM Pick, and felt that the album was "definitely worth checking out" because it was "much more sophisticated and mature sound" than he was with Hands. Dan Slessor of Outburn rated it a perfect ten, and proclaimed this to be "a beautifully crafted, loving realizedrecord, and anything Ochsner puts his name on from here on out is essential listening." At Indie Vision Music, Lee Brown rated the album a perfect five stars, and highlighted that the album "paints on the canvas of life a picture of a thousand words that somehow manages to bring together both the beauty of a Picasso with the raw and childlike grace of your little child’s first finger-painting." Aaron Lambert of Jesus Freak Hideout rated the album four-and-a-half stars, and affirmed that the material on the release was "even more ambitious and powerful" than his work with Hands, which makes this effort "essential listening, and one of the best albums of the year." At Mind Equal Blown, Tim Dodderidge rated the album an eight-and-a-half, and noted that "Phoenix is a beauty", which "strengthened" him saying this was "a rarity in music nowadays." Also, Dodderidge said of "Any record that connects is going to go a long way, and with this record doing so through such a rich, honest expanse, it makes me hope it can affect others the same way. That, in the grandest sense, is unity." Rick Gebhardt of Decoy Music rated it a perfect five stars, and wrote that "There are fewer and fewer bands that can truly provide such an emotional punch, which makes those that can, such as Everything in Slow Motion, stand out so much more." At Jesus Wired, Chris Adam rated the album four-and-a-half stars out of five, and stated that "Phoenix is nearly a perfect album with its only downfalls being the two tracks that can’t quite match the excellence of the rest of it."
Commercial performance
For the Billboard charting week of December 28, 2013, Phoenix was the No. 15 most sold album on the breaking-and-entry chart via the Heatseekers Albums, and it was the No. 31 most sold album on the Christian Albums chart.
