Six of Swords are a powerful Death Metal presence in the Toronto metal scene which is flooded with Sludge Metal and Hardcore. Following the release of their 2013 demo, Six of Swords return with their Polar Vortex EP which has far superior production. The EP opens up with the song “Seperation at the Seams” which hits the listener with a riff straight out of the Cannibal Corpse songbook. Unlike Cannibal Corpse, however, everything is extremely tasteful in this song as Six of Swords embodies the “less is more” mantra. The solo that creeps in at the 1:30 mark is melodic, and serves to drive the song forward. The band also blends in elements of Doom Metal with slow riffs in the middle of the song. The heaviest part of the song, however, is the solo bass riff that is highlighted at the 2:30 marker; bringing to light shades of Alex Webster from Cannibal Corpse. Although Six of Swords brings many elements to their music, they aren’t afraid to flex their influences full force.
The second song “ Polar Vortex” opens with a traditional Thrash Metal riff, which quickly molds into classic death metal blast-beat worship. What arguably separates Six of Swords from most of their Death Metal contemporaries,however, is their seemingly fluid blend of multiple genres, and having a singer who can enunciate his words so you can actually understand him. The 2:10 minute point of the song shows off the band’s Sludge Metal roots with Crowbar-worship riffs. The song then furiously blast back into Death Metal form.
“Lock in a Cell” returns to the Crowbar riff worship, mixed with the classic Death Metal of the Florida scene. The EP ends off on the Doom/Hardcore infused track that incapsulates everything that Six of Swords does on this EP. Overall, if you’re looking for a band in the vein of 90s Florida Death metal without the cheesy lyrics and blend of other sub-genres, Six of Swords is worth checking out.
