UMUR
"Six the Hard Way" is an EP release by US, California based crossover/thrash metal act Suicidal Tendencies. The EP was released through Suicidal Records in November 1998. The EP bridges the gap between the band´s seventh and eighth full-length studio albums "Suicidal for Life" (1994) and "Freedumb" (1999) and can be seen as a teaser preceding the release of the latter. Suicidal Tendencies disbanded in 1995, but reunited in 1996 with a new lineup, which included guitarist Dean Pleasants and drummer Brooks Wackerman from lead vocalist Mike Muir´s funk metal side-project Infectious Grooves.
As the title may suggest "Six the Hard Way" features six tracks. The two hardcore punk styled tracks "Freedumb" and "Cyco Vision" would both appear in identical versions on the "Freedumb" (1999) album, but the two funk infused crossover tracks "Refuse" and "What's the Word?" are exclusive to this release (the Infectious Grooves influences are strong on those tracks). The two remaining tracks on the EP are live versions of the two Suicidal Tendencies crossover classics "Fascist Pig" and "I Saw Your Mommy".
The studio cuts feature a well sounding production, and the live tracks sound decent too, and "Six the Hard Way" is therefore overall a decent quality EP. The tracks from "Freedumb" (1999) are both pretty decent hardcore punk songs, but as both are available in the same versions on the full-length album, they aren´t exactly worth the price of admission here. "Refuse" and "What's the Word?" which are the two songs exclusive to this release, aren´t really that great and the two live songs are decent but nothing too special, so upon conclusion "Six the Hard Way" not the most necessary release by Suicidal Tendencies, but since the fans at the time hadn´t heard anything new from the band in four years, it does serve its purpose as a stop gap release. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.