IVS – Rest Assured, We Are Your Saviours

After a small, three song EP, Mississauga, ON melodic punk rockers IVS return with one of the fastest, most technically ambitious skatepunk and metal fusions to ever come out of Canada – and that’s saying a lot considering the global praise countrymen Belvedere garnered for over a decade.  In fact, I wouldn’t hesitate to proclaim their independently released full-length debut, Rest Assured, We Are Not Your Saviours, my favourite metal tinged punk release in recent memory.  And considering the pedestal I placed Chaser and Strung Out’s most recent offerings upon, I feel like I might be going soft – but then I fire up Rest Assured and realize that I simply can’t speak of IVS otherwise.

Having formed but a few short years ago, IVS offers a very modern take on an increasingly aged sound.  First off, IVS roots itself in modern Fat Wreck Chords classics like NOFX, No Use For A Name, andStrung Out.  There are Fat Mike’s obnoxious vocals, NUFAN’s ever-quickening pace, and Strung Out’s love affair with metal solos.  By itself that list should perk ears, but then add that their technical proficiency ranks up with those inspired by Dragonforce’s need for crisp and complex solos and it should widen eyes.  The band actually features three guitarists, making their adept interplay the true showstopper.  From track to track rhythm guitars weave in and out of punk and metal loops with soloists jumping in at every turn. Tracks like “Funeral For An Acquaintance” even match such force with slamming power drumming.  Quite often, if you were to subtract the vocals you’d think you were listening to a pure power metal outfit like Iced Earth or Manowar, but then Matt pipes up and you’re sucked back into a punk’s world.  Granted, every track isn’t a metal showcase – “Meathead” gives listeners some time to catch their breath – but such moments are certainly album highlights.

But Rest Assured serves up more than just metal and speed, with IVS also offering a compelling message.  Most of the ten tracks centre around a particularly critical, grim take on modern culture.  If there is one thing that really grinds the band’s bones, it’s fakes.  Track after track IVS slams those giving in to modern image at the cost of personal integrity.  And nobody is safe.  Tracks like “Radio Friendly” tell the tale of a band that “compromised beliefs until there was barely something left,” and how “to further pump their wallets they would trade their souls for stones,” describing their music as the “song of falsity,” and verse by verse detailing their decline into simplified mediocrity.  It’s not a story unlike others, but it makes for a fantastic album opener and mantra from a band as fiercely independent as IVS.  And when they’re not slamming their peers, they’re pleading with their audience in songs like “Black Eyes,” insistent that they march to the beat of their own drum than substituting “moronic trends” for morality.

At just over thirty minutes Rest Assured is a quick listen with a track list that features shorter and shorter songs as it approaches conclusion.  It’s worth noting that the declining song length helps maintain attention even during the album’s final breaths.

With Rest Assured, We Are Not Your Saviours, IVS has made one hell of a thirty minute ride.  From content to execution, the quintet contains all the chemistry and wisdom of punkrock veterans, but with the energy and enthusiasm of a young upstart.  This is a band I’ll be keeping tabs on.