5625 Glen Erin Drive Unit #57
Mississauga, Ontario
Canada
L5M - 6V2
Price: C$3.99 Canada / ??? Elsewhere

Review online: May 4, 2003
Reviewed by: Michel Renaud

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The king of Canadian metal magazines (BW&BK lost that title many moons ago through wimpifaction and record company whoring) is back with another packed issue. It once again showcases a top quality layout and good writing (except for a few blatant typos that shouldn't have made it to print - I suspect the editors ran out of beer. :)) For those of you unfamiliar with the magazine, it focuses on underground - or at least slightly lesser known bands - while still covering some of the "big" names, immediately noticeable by the cover page with names such as The Haunted (zzz), Voïvod, SYL and Amon Amarth.

It's when you dig in that you'll find such rare gems as Grand Belial's Key (oh yeaaah), Usurper, Axis of Advance and Wood of Ypres… Most not exactly bands that do not usually enjoy coverage by a glossy mag. Lots of other bands are featured in this issue: Bathory, Grave, Bloodbath, Aborym, The Red King, Monumentum, Malevolent Creation, Arkhon Infaustus, Forgotten Tomb, Deranged, Benumb, Ministry, AFI, Night In Gales, Anonymus (not "Anonymous", mistakenly printed a couple of times ;)), Neuraxis, the mighty OVERKILL (can't get enough of that), Nightingale, Brodequin, Devourment, Sadis Euphoria, Funebarum, Pandemonium, Raunchy, Solace, Allfader, Vidnobmana, Masterplan, Blistered Earth, sHEAVY, Soulforge and Botch… Whoa.. How's that? You want more? Damn, how much time do you have to spend reading? Get a job! :) Well that's not all, there's the usual hardcore section (which I dutifully skip everytime :)), reviews (+ independent releases reviews) and the Kevi-Metal rimshots who this time uses pictures of his newborn to make his point (the one that says "No Picture Available" is hilarious, at least for those in the know.)

Already at issue #21 and Unrestrained! Magazine is looking better than ever. You'll also find some information about the upcoming "Northern Lights Festival" this summer in Toronto, organized by U! (see the front page on this site for a banner link, and the message board for the discussion forum.) I still wish Unrestrained! would be published more often (4 times a year right now), but then again, the time between issues makes a new issue even more of a pretty sight. The magazine is available at many outlets and also directly from their web site. Buy.