Release Date: 21/08/2020
Record Label: Tooth & Nail Records
For Fans Of: Decay, Hawthorne Heights, Thursday
The definition of an idle threat is a threat that a person does not really mean or intend to follow through with. However, the Tennessee trio of the same name are a post-hardcore, emo band that most certainly mean and intend every note and word on their sophomore EP, Nothing Is Broken For Good.
“Nothing is Broken For Good is about temporal pain and suffering and the endurance that it takes to remain hopeful that it will come to pass,” says the band. Unlike the air of lament that underpinned their debut, Grown Tired, idle threat deliver a record that channels optimism and empowers lyrically and musically. The outlook of this EP is even present in the moving track ‘Cement’, which the band explain is “‘about keeping faith through the loss of loved ones with the promise that death, too, is only but a moment.” Sunshine and rainbows were never promised by idle threat, but they do assure you there is a light at the end of every tunnel.
It’s worth noting that Nothing Is Broken For Good is the product of a band who not only use their music to encourage and inspire, but that also have spent over half a decade organising and hosting the two-day music festival, Threat Fest, for the exact same reason. This festival brings artists together through collaboration rather than competition, creating a community that supports and believes in each other. The context in which idle threat operate as a band is important as it adds sincerity to the words, a conviction to their sound, and authenticity to their image in a day and age where many artists across the globe do anything but practice what they preach.
There’s an abundance of emotion on Nothing Is Broken For Good, with stirring efforts like the hauntingly beautiful ‘Nothing Lasts Forever’ and ‘Empty House’, the latter a gritty plea for help and an outpouring of anguish. ‘Ungrateful (Nothing Is Broken For Good)’ is the epitome of the dogged and pensive, but uplifting ethos of this record. It’s a rollercoaster of a track that takes us to gravelly, screamo peaks, and freefalls into the softest and melodic of drops. It’s unquestionable that idle threat are brilliant at creating this style of music, but there’s not a great deal of variety on the release. Nothing Is Broken For Good would perhaps benefit from a track or two that take a slightly different stylistic direction from what is on the record.
Nothing Is Broken For Good is an EP that focuses on that very title, in the most genuine and moving of ways. idle threat are using their platform in a positive fashion and along the way creating a record that will appeal to the more old-school emo post-hardcore fans out there, but it might not quite a satisfy a generation of post-hardcore fans who are used to bands currently on the scene having a sound that is diverse and enriched with different influences. The craftsmanship is impressive, the lyrics are painfully relatable, and the passion is palpable; three very important elements that carry this release a long way.
Rating: 6/10
Recommended Track: ‘Ungrateful (Nothing Is Broken For Good)’