It's been a few years and a good few band members since Crossingpoint released an album, but the wait has been worth every second. Crossingpoint are South African hardcore's stalwarts, sticking it out in a scene that has gone through its fair share of ups and downs. It would be easy for a band to lose momentum after so long, but if anything Crossingpoint are forging ahead stronger than ever and this new album proves it.

Ever since I watched my first Crossingpoint show some six years ago they've always had one overriding and unchanging quality - urgency. Crossingpoint have always been a band that is proudly message first, music second. Never content to go with the flow and always willing to speak out against what is wrong with this world, Crossingpoint has been building up its listeners with every word and every throbbing chord. And their message is something they live, as they sing in Snakes in our Laps, the fourth track on the album, "Let our actions speak louder than our words." It's not just a refrain; it's a call to living out what you believe.

And essentially, that's what much of this album is about. In the words of vocalist Ray Douglas, "The name 'Self Assassination' is basically about rethinking how you thought about yourself and the world around you, what you've been taught, how the influence of this world has tried to inform you, from parents to school to religion that's dirtied name of Jesus. Killing who you thought you were and becoming that person full of hope and glory, and that's special. Essentially, dying to yourself."

The power of hardcore is that though it's such an aggressive form of music, the heart behind it is always so close to the surface and easily apparent. Crossingpoint have arguably become a lot heavier over the last few years, referencing newer influences (there's traces of Between the Buried and Me, Botch and Haste the Day in there) and experimenting with their sound, but the heart is there more than ever. On this album they manage to switch suddenly between sections that hit you like a sledgehammer to dreamy breaks with impassioned singing, and it all flows together in a way that just makes sense. Crossingpoint have managed to put together a really 'big' album. The sound is full, the passion is relentless and it's one of the few albums I've ever heard which makes me feel like I'm at a show.

It's an album that's uplifting and passionate, and I can't help but smile and sing a long when I listen to it. "We'll be there every second, every step!"

-  Will Edgecumbe
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