Review Summary: Take a brief journey through the depths of a desolate, dying moon.
At this point in A Slow Descent’s career, he has managed to develop a bit of a niche for himself and it’s working for him. Nash’s ability to evoke a story through spacey ambient music has reached a climax and it’s safe to say that this time around the atmosphere happens to be a lot less jarring than it was on his debut LP. Despite staying in his comfort zone, in just a short period of about twenty minutes, A Slow Descent manages to tell a story well while at the same time making it quite an enjoyable listening experience.
Secrets of a Melting Moon proves to be at its core a work of art rather than an accessible piece of easy listening music. Though Nash’s work certainly lacks constant replay value, everything accomplished here in this short amount of time is definitely worth a listen or two simply for anyone who appreciates art and it’s admirable how he strives to craft pieces of music for himself even knowing that many common folk will not listen to it.
Secrets of a Melting Moon essentially takes the listener on a cold and desolate journey through the dark depths of the frozen moon of Jupiter, Europa. Right off the bat, “Radio Transmissions Soaring through the Icy Air” gives off an intriguing spacey atmosphere that has swelling ambiance that rises more and more of the course of the track. Crash landed on this icy moon, this astronaut who ventures deep into the moon without a crew and freezes as a result of being eager to find out what secrets the dying moon has to offer. The growing ambiance gives off the vibe that the moon does in fact have dark secrets in store for the astronaut with its mysterious atmosphere. In “Europa: Dead, Desolate, Destroyed, Dark,” the ambiance plummets to a bit of a darker state with her being frozen and thawed out hundreds of years later. The music clearly shows the state of despair she appears to be in with the darkness filling the listener’s ears.
From the somewhat happy vibe of “As the Ice Melts Around You” as she swims higher to the surface like a phoenix from the ashes to the suddenly sorrowful ambiance of “Ruins of What Was Once a Space Station,” Nash’s ability as a story teller through the art of music is admirable and
Secrets Of a Melting Moon serves as a testament to how enjoyable musical storytelling can be. When the bleak nothingness that is "Someone is Out There/First Contact” comes to a close, the listener will be left satisfied, but at the same time craving A Slow Descent to come out of his comfort zone and really show us what he is made of. Anyone who loves spacey ambient music will surely enjoy this, but for any newcomers who appreciate audio storytelling should give this a try. It’s the equivalent to listening to a well-made short film and a exceptional piece of art at that.
