Hail Metal Templars! Here before you is my review for BATTALION's "Runaway", a compilation of songs from their one and only full length album, plus an unreleased demo and a handful of live recordings just for the hell of it. Now, I'll be honest. When I volunteered my wit and talent to review this album I was thinking of another band entirely. But, just like finding yourself on a not so great dinner date, I figured I'm here, I might as well enjoy myself and give it a listen.

BATTALION is a 1990s Christian Metal band hailing from Wisconsin (I'd say think of STRYPER). Their tracks are meant to be motivating, uplifting, and inspiring, and I do believe that for their genre and their audience, they accomplished their goal. Brad Lundstrom's vocals are a bit on the Geoff Tate side, while Les Rouse's guitar work reflects the late 80s / early 90s riff work quite well. Drums and bass are a bit thin, but unfortunately that may be due to the mix. The whole album's sound is thin, and it does hamper the overall quality.

All 18 tracks are completely dedicated to the Christianity and spreading the word of Jesus Christ. All of them, literally. I did find a few standout tracks, most notably "Don't Wait", a song about taking chances and making mistakes, and "Judgment Day", where we finally hear some of Joe Siegel's drum work that comes to the forefront. However, the rest of the songs really run together since there seems to be only one theme for the album, which is difficult for any band to do well.I really have to low ball this rating, due to the quality of the recording, and for the overall lack of standout songs. Until next time, Cheers!!