Nine Lashes is well-known for their hard-hitting rock albums, World We View and From Water To War, and for their jump from heavy music to a more electro-pop style. However, this review is about Nine Lashes' debut album Escape, which was released back in 2009.

Escape's tracklist consists of 12 gritty rock songs (track number 9 "Solace" is actually an instrumental). The album opener, "One And All," starts off slowly, but quickly picks up speed to lead into one of the best songs on the record, "Fly." "Fly" begins with an entertaining bassline, and seems to be about a person whose eyes are opened to the true state of the world, and to Jesus. "Escape" follows up with an orchestral opening akin to something Skillet might do. The lyrics in "Escape" are about a person who is encouraging a friend to flee from his sin. ("Now come along/And find yourself/You're not so alone/Escape your hell")

The song "Word Of Advice" tells listeners (albeit with repetitive lyrics) to wait for Christ to heal their hurts instead of just giving up ("I tell you it's alright, it's alright/Walker of waves/He'll lead the way"). "Word of Advice" also displays a heavy metal sound similar to Disciple's older material (a band who is listed by Nine Lashes as one of their influences on Escape), such as By God or This Might Sting A Little.

Now, as for the downsides of this record, there are a few. For one, the production is lacking in the top-notch quality department. The lyrics are well-written, but not the greatest Nine Lashes has to offer. The sound is grittier and darker than Escape's successor, World We View, but the songs still have a message of hope: that even in the darkest of moments, Jesus is there to bind up the wounds, and lead you out of the hurt and into joy.

Review date: 3/12/17, written by Darian Hall for Jesusfreakhideout.com