It's not a secret that, here at ÜRHQ, we love the 'Port. There was a time when Newport, awash with NME-friendly indie types, was being touted as the new Seattle (never managed to see the Newport version of Heart myself) but now, with a cadre of excellent young metal bands surfacing, finds itself more akin to the Bay Area of San Francisco.

Add another name to the ever-growing list of ass-kicking bands to crawl out of the woodwork - and speakers - from the 'Port and its surrounding areas - Firax.

'Effigy Of Hate' is a four track EP that the band have self-financed, self-produced and self-released. For anyone who, like myself, recorded music two decades ago, this is another kick in the teeth - yet another example of young bands churning out music that is wonderfully produced given the circumstances. This release sounds great; there really is no excuse for any band to churn out substandard demo-quality shite anymore.

Unashamedly referencing 80's metal, Firax certainly offer up a different slant on the heavy music that is currently cracking skulls in the principality. Vocalist Rhydian Hoddinott, apart from being able to make the names Dio, Thor and Odin out of the letters in his name, has a voice that is noticeably different from the genre's now de rigueur sound. His cleaner vocals, probably best described as Mustaine-esque, are a refreshing change from the expected piss 'n' pebbles gargling vocals that have become the norm in the realms of heavy duty metal. He needs to realise the limitations of his voice and control it a little more, but that is a minor gripe. I'm sure that certain followers of the genre will turn their snotty noses up at this change of vocal direction but kudos to the band for attempting to break the genre's shackles.

There are times during the seventeen minutes that this EP runs for that I have to check myself to make sure that I'm still listening to a self-produced effort, such is the scope of the sound. The guitars are massive. Seriously. Ok, so guitarist Glyn Williams recorded, mixed and mastered the tracks but this certainly isn't any kind of vanity project. I guess that the highest kind of praise I could lavish upon a guitarist in a review is to say that the sound is akin to that of Pantera - there, I've done it.

Another fine metal outfit to add to the list of promising bands to watch - recommended.

www.myspace.com/firaxband