Nth Wheel Shutdown

I was trying to hurriedly book a last minute show at Public Bar in Melbourne for tonight (unfortunately it is a no go - don't worry, more will be up soon though...). One of the bands had to pull out and I asked about ten different bands, but it didn't come to pass. One of the bands I asked was Nth Wheel - they couldn't do it because one of their members is overseas for the next few months (fair dues). But it was only then that I realised that they had released a cassette a couple of weeks ago - Shutter - and shit it is a corker. The titular song is six-and-a-half minutes of brooding repetition: the bassline is a constant drumming on the pulse, spiked by accompanying drums, sparked by dark downer riffs that slowly builds in intensity and temerity. Over the top of it all is the reverberated vocals that are so hard to decipher and define, yet its sneering, vitriolic monotone is enough to rattle the bones. There are about ten seconds total of actual noise as bloodletting violence - the rest an unrelenting exercise in ratcheted tension. In other words, one of the best songs of the year. Get it here for $1 - that is an order.