In a review for AllMusic, Rick Anderson described "Unrest" as "one of Henry Cow's better efforts". He called "Bittern Storm Over Ulm" a "brilliant demolition" of "Got to Hurry" by the Yardbirds, and liked the "stately" "Solemn Music" with its "atonal but pretty counterpoint between Frith and Cooper". Anderson felt that the improvised material is "more spotty", but was impressed by "Deluge" and the way it demonstrated how well the group could negotiate the "fine the line ... between bracing free atonality and mindless cacophony". A staff reviewer on Sputnikmusic gave the album a perfect score, writing that it "consistently progresses through unexpected levels of musicianship and creativity but never gets lost in its own mire. It's one of those albums that'll start off a track with a jazz ballad, then take five or so minutes to transform it into some sort of warped rock tune (think '60s and '70s rock music, deconstructed then thrown together so the pieces don't "quite" fit snugly) then, by the end, will make you wonder not only where you are but also how you got there." "Overall," he concludes, ""Unrest" is a hidden gem, one that transcends and earns all its grating moments because they're all in service of bizarrely beautiful ones."