"The singer/songwriter doesn't stray from his wheelhouse at all. Whatever departures he makes exist on the margins, usually amounting to a softening sentimental side ... Family can melt Gilbert's heart, and he also tends to get a bit sticky over small towns and romances. These all may be old warhorses for country music, but Fire & Brimstone is firmly grounded in the present day, anchored almost entirely on prominent drum loops and shined so they gleam ... Maybe it doesn't have enough intensity to live up to its titular promise, but Fire & Brimstone nevertheless is a cohesive record that shows Gilbert in firm grasp of his craft"