The most compelling band in hardcore has returned with the announcement of their third album, Freedom, Sweet Freedom, due out September 20th via Closed Casket Activities.

Regional Justice Center has always been about two brothers. Ian Shelton started the project in 2016 shortly after the incarceration of his younger sibling Max, and each release has not only sought to explore the choices, cycles, experiences, and institutions surrounding that event, but also to keep the two tethered during Max’s time in prison. In 2022 Max was released and now ‘Freedom, Sweet Freedom’, brings him directly into the fold, writing and performing on the album. And Max isn’t the only impactful lineup addition–the album was recorded by acclaimed engineer Taylor Young who has now also joined RJC as a member. The result is not only a record that’s packed with years-in-the-making emotional catharsis, it’s also the most sonically hard-hitting 13 minutes of aggressive music you’ll hear this year. To mark the album’s announcement RJC have shared two new songs, the absolutely pummeling ‘Freedom’ and ‘Take A Step Away’. The songs offer an introduction to the dual perspectives found on ‘Freedom, Sweet Freedom’: the former written and fronted by Ian and the latter by Max.
Max Shelton discussed the release of the new singles, saying:
“Eight years ago to the day, I woke up in county jail. I was confused, I had zero recollection of what events took place to land me there, and I didn’t know how long I’d be gone or when I’d be able to see and hug my family again. To be able to reclaim these dates and put something positive and hopeful in place of the trauma and anxiety that had always been wrapped around it all—that is the most beautiful full circle moment to me. Even a lotus can grow in mud. Freedom, sweet freedom.”
Ian Shelton adds:
“When Max went away, I started RJC as a way of unpacking everything that was happening, so he’s been a defining part of the band from the start—but the plan was always for him to be even more involved when he got out. I never knew exactly what that would mean until we started making this album and it became clear: he’s the singer of the band. RJC has always been about Max’s story and I’m happy for him to finally be able to tell it with his own voice.”

‘Freedom, Sweet Freedom’ tracklist:
1. Freedom
2. Diplomatic Solution
3. Moral Death Sentence
4. Weight
5. Rewired
6. Comfort Of Addiction
7. Take A Step Away
8. Pariah
9. Prying Eyes
10. Curse
11. Unnerving
12. Sweet Freedom

photo credit: Taylor Jones

‘Freedom, Sweet Freedom’ follows 2021′s ‘Crime And Punishment’, very well may be the first proper powerviolence album to ever crack a Billboard chart. Shortly after its release, RJC went dormant while Ian focused on his quickly growing other band, Militarie Gun. Fast forward several years and the now reunited Shelton brothers have finally be able to come together to great what Ian calls “The Regional Justice Center album.” It is the kind of album that exemplifies everything that makes hardcore such a deeply intense and impactful genre: a lightning fast blast of extreme music that’s loaded with raw emotion and thorny ideas. “The album is saying that despite the trappings of freedom, you are not actually free” Ian explains. “We’re all subject to a larger, broader system that’s meant to keep us in specific cycles–I think that’s a lot of what RJC has always been talking about: cycles of abuse, addiction, making the same mistakes over and over. There’s no freedom from society, from the system, or even from yourself.”