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

Review online: March 7, 2002
Reviewed by: Michel Renaud

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One more issue to the 5th anniversary of this magazine born zine. U! #18 follows pretty much the same path as the previous issues - i.e. no major changes in layout or type of content. A rather long (3 pages) interview with Pungent Stench kicks off. I don't have much interest in that band but the interview is an interesting read. Other bands interviewed include Borknagar, Entombed, Immortal (my favorite interview in this issue), The Crown (the new singer looks like his face was caught in the path of a sledgehammer slamming on an anvil...), My Dying Bride (very good interview by the editor of the magazine), Enslaved, Burnt By The Sun, Summoning, Sinister, Theory In Practice, The Chasm (buy their latest MCD or forever be a poser!), Nocturnal Winds, Green Carnation, Sodom, Khanate, Source Of Tide, Thought Industry, a tribute to Chuck Schuldiner, Veneficum (probably the most underground band covered in the issue - half-page interview and an interesting read), Weedeater, Without Face, Evergrey, Aphotic, Within Tears, Impure, Asgard and Atomsmasher.

There's the usual hardcore section (and once again, thanks for putting all those together in the mag so I can skip the section!), tons of album reviews, a few zines reviewed as well, like in every issue. This issue also has the staff's Top Picks of 2001. Another thing where all I can say is "To each his own". :)

The magazine is 82 glossy pages and at C$3.99 it's a good value. Like most magazines you'll find in store, the magazine focuses more on known bands - at least for the longest interviews - so it can be a bit repetitive if you've already seen a hundred interviews with those bands in the past month. However Unrestrained! always have a few short interviews (half-page mostly) with lesser-known bands, and there's usually some contact information if you are interested in finding out more.