Regional Justice Center are an interesting new band. Hailing from Los Angeles, RJC offer up a fast and heavy take on modern hardcore. After releasing a highly praised LP in 2017, the band has returned with a brand spankin’ new split with New Bedford’s Wound Man.

This split is as fast and direct as they come, with all seven tracks clocking in at less than ten minutes in length. The split begins with three tracks from RJC that emphasize thick and dirty riffs with lots of groove. RJC comes with an interesting back story as the band originally formed following the arrest and subsequent incarceration of band creator Ian Shelton’s brother to serve as a platform to voice his concerns with the American justice system at large. The three tracks are angry and visceral, and are delivered with a lot of emotion. The songs are memorable and the riffs have a familiar tinge of Seattle’s grunge that flavours the bands heavy groove laden riffs.

The split continues with four concise power violence tracks from New Bedford’s Wound Man. The band, featuring Trevor Vaughan of The Rival Mob and Wolf Whistle, includes all the stops you would expect from a current power violence band, including (but not limited to) blazing blast beats and thrash influenced guitar riffs. The four Wound Man tracks are all under 1 minute long and are well written for the genre, but less memorable and engaging than RJC’s initial three tracks.

This split is a solid release from two bands that feature seasoned members of the hardcore community. RJC highlight the split with youth crew style speed and groovy two steps. Wound Man is more than competent in regards to creating a heavy and angry, albeit brief, musical landscape. Wound Man’s blistering blast beats and doomy dirges are enjoyable, but could offer more in terms of substance, I hope with future releases we get a little bit more. That being said, RJC and Wound Man have delivered a solid release, which I hope offers us a glimpse of what we can expect from future releases.