Review: Idle Threat – “Nothing is Broken For Good”

Tooth and Nail Records – 21 AUG 2020

The Devil and God are raging inside this record

The Tennessee trio idle threat are quite paradoxical at first glance on their sophomore EP Nothing Is Broken For Good. Unlike the band name implies their is nothing idle within, this is a band that feels earnestly invested in the “This too shall pass” sentiment of the album title. Be aware though, this is a Tooth and Nail Records release, there are very strong elements of Christian moralizing that shine throughout.

It is important to point out, especially to the cynics like myself, that idle threat is not a band of charlatans. This is a band making a point of practicing what they preach. This album is written and performed by a trio who sincerely want to uplift and encourage their fans and friends. For the last few years idle threat have hosted and organized the Tennessee music festival Threat Fest in the name of community and positivity.

Nothing Is Broken For Good comes across less as a sequel to 2016’s Grown Tired EP and more like the second act, an optimistic denouement to the rueful point of view taken four years prior. “Nothing Last Forever” opens the EP and initiates the listener to the mournful past works with the simple lyric “Not every question leads to an answer, not every person beats their cancer.” Don’t let the prologue of that track fool you though, idle threat is not here to play victim or allow the listener to give up.

When “Empty House” kicks in as the second track, the band make clear their belief in the importance of a positive relationship with faith and the way that sometimes you are tested to remind you that you can rebuild. A powerful monologue alternating between clean singing and pained screams like the devil and angel on idle threat’s shoulders trying to settle the “should I go on” debate raging inside as idle threat finds their footing amidst the uncertainty.

The struggle continues to be felt throughout “Restore/Repair.” idle threat are not making any claims that the world is butterflies and gumdrops, this is band that embraces or at least accepts its personal demons. Nothing drives the struggle of knowing you are on the wrong path more bluntly than “Throwing Stones.” The trio admits they are struggling to find their place and having an even harder time getting on the path home. While the band may be willing to admit that their days aren’t always the brightest they see a light at the end of the tunnel.

The penultimate track “Cement” has a strong ties to the same Book of Ecclesiastes passage that inspired The Byrds to write “Turn! Turn! Turn!.” While the track looks ahead to everyone’s inevitable shuffling off this mortal coil before closing out with the verse “If our lives are surely borrowed, The seeds that we have sown, Once loaned for us to spend, Now worth their weight in gold” really has a “Time to every purpose under Heaven” vibe to it. Album closer “Ungrateful (Nothing Is Broken For Good)” continues the band’s uplifting message of living a life they can be proud of when they meet their maker.

Nothing Is Broken For Good is an EP intending to encourage its listeners sincerely., in the most genuine and moving of ways. idle threat crafts impressive songs rife with powerful peaks and pensive valleys. The lyrics are pained and relevant, the passion is tangible and the EP shows that this is a band that has the potential to go a long way.