Molten Imp - "Constable Sewage" Single Review!!

It's now time for our 153rd monthly CD review at The Sault Metal Scene, as we're taking a look at local industrial metal solo project Molten Imp's second digital single "Constable Sewage"! Released exclusively to the band's Bandcamp page on October 3rd, 2021, this is the follow-up to their similarly formatted "Double Dose (Me)" release from May of last year, and like there, Molten Imp are solely represented by former AlgomA singer/guitarist Boyd Rendell (a.k.a. Darby Wigwaus) on all instruments. The songs appear to have been recorded at the home studio, while song #2 at least was mixed by prolific local punk musician Mark Rand at Bandage A/V in Peterborough. You can stream "Constable Sewage" for free on Bandcamp, but mp3 copies go for $5. Featuring three songs running about 14 minutes in length, let's begin this fairly quick album review!

The first two tracks have identical run-times, for the record. The first song (or "side C") is the title track, fully entitled "MCMXII/Constable Sewage". Interestingly, the lyrics for this song are exclusive to backers of Molten Imp on Patreon, so keep that in mind, but note that the Roman numerals stand for 1912. The opening 90 seconds is just a lot of feedback-laden noise rock with background computer beeping before the slow percussion kicks in, abruptly pausing at the 2:30 mark for an audio sample from an episode of CBC's The Fifth Estate about murderer Russell Williams, believe it or not, and there's more from that at the end. Afterwards, the song gets heavy with pounding programmed drums, background police sirens, repeated recitations of the single's name, and a very Ministry-esque vibe, but the melody comes and goes in favour of more feedback and distortion. Not the most melodic song ever, but industrial & noise rock fans will approve!

Song 2/"side S" is entitled "Downtown MMXXI (D.N.A.F)" (the Roman numerals stand for 2021), and it's a sample fest in the first half, including numerous repetitions of someone saying that someone's "gotta know how to deal with that", but many of the samples are not easily intelligible. These get enveloped by static, noise and extra background effects by the second half, but the samples never completely go away. By the end, a very bassy instrumentation takes over, plus sound effects of what sounds like someone stepping on eggshells, before the song ends much like "Constable Sewage" started with the same kind of ambient noise. Not much of a song more than a sonic collage, but you may dig the soundscape on offer! Like on "Double Dose (Me)", this single has a bonus third song that is not available to stream for free on Bandcamp, so get a credit/prepaid card or PayPal ready!

The bonus track is Molten Imp's remix of "EAT (EVERYTHING)" by DJ Unterbiss, of whom I know absolutely nothing (Unterbiss is German for underbite, for the record). A 3+ minute techno song with a suitably repetitive drum-and-bass line with heavily processed recitations of the title and some slowly increasing background noise & effects. Not much to say here, electronica fans will like it, but it is hard to gauge, especially as I don't know the original song sounds. Still a welcome bonus!

So, what are my final thoughts on Molten Imp's second single? Not a bad experimental release that fans of "Double Dose (Me)" will take to (if not necessarily AlgomA fans), and for myself, I think it is a slight improvement! While not lyrically strong (samples aside), the title track has a nice Ministry-esque vibe that I definitely appreciate, and the b-side (s-side?) feels like more craft was put into it, despite not really being a "song" in the traditional sense. I definitely think that the paid bonus track is a better value than on their first single (which just had two sub-20 second techno beats), but again, this will be appealing to club/dance fans more than metalheads. Boyd is definitely expanding his musical footprint with Molten Imp, with a deconstructive that I appreciate, even if this isn't entirely my musical cup of tea!

If you like noise and industrial rock, Molten Imp are flying that flag well in the Soo, so give them a listen and/or buy this single at the above links, and I hope you guys liked this month's CD review! I hope you guys liked this month's CD review, and in our April 2022 review, we'll be taking a look at inactive local alt-hard rock trio The Din's 2021 live album "Technically Live", as they'll be clear of our 6 month anti bias buffer period from our last review of theirs next month! Look for that in the coming weeks, and for more news and notes this week! Thanks everyone!