Review Summary: Burn your cargo shorts.
Psychic Jailbreak is the equivalent of someone trying to draw Zack de la Rocha from memory. It is recycled riffs and choruses from a musical period that should probably be left in the past. The live show must be killer though. Look, it's a fun album–that much cant be denied–but this has about as much nutritional value as a fast food meal. If you're looking for a quick fix of teen angst, than this album has that in spades.
I understand the name drop in the beginning may prompt the reader to envision a poor copy of Rage Against the Machine and admittedly that is unfair. Psychic Jailbreak is a hardcore record and hardcore elements as well as that traditional southern metal sound are present in the album. Moreover, some tracks are quite enjoyable depictions of those sounds, the track Hammering On being a stellar example of this synthesis. Unfortunately, the energy and structure that is sported on that track isn’t exactly common place here.
Perhaps this review shouldn't be taken seriously. I do have some serious gripes with this album and containing these biases and remaining objective is a bit of a struggle. This album just doesn't sound inspired. The rise of Turnstile to mainstream recognition may have seriously shaken the hardcore scene and I wouldn't be surprised to see a number of hardcore bands trying to surf that wave. That appears to be the case here. This album is teetering dangerously close to radio rock.
Should an album be knocked for accessibility? No, it shouldn't. But it should be knocked if it's doing this distastefully. I really think that’s the case here. The ninth track, Pressure Mind, is a prime example of the bands insipid performance. The title of this track is just repeatedly shouted and the lyrical cadence that follows is reminiscent of the cringiest nu-metal acts that proliferated your local rock stations in the early 2000s. In fact, this one track is a really good summary of what you will find on this album for the most part.
The musicianship of Psychic Jailbreak is tight. Cancer Bats do have a keen ear for song structure and are well aware of how to translate a catchy tune. However, this record is rather generic as a whole and there is nothing being offered here that will contribute to its staying power. With that being said, the title track is an absolute banger, but aside from a handful of tracks this mostly feels like a wasted opportunity.
