AEON APHELION is a Doom Metal project based out of Athens, Attica, Greece formed in 2005 and this is their second release (7 years after their first full-length), in the form of an EP entitled "Blind Descent", that came out on March 31^st 2020, independently. From the low-end powerful guitar riffs, we start off with "Eyes of the Abyss", a song that is a cross between ISOLE, MY DYING BRIDE and PARADISE LOST. The strong comparisons here are because the song just embodies depression and that feeling of falling in a deep abyss, as the title mentions so eloquently. I especially appreciated the chorus of the song and how the vocal style varies in this section, as compared to the rest of the song. When the song speeds up with its guitar melodies, it is as strong as the melodic parts we have been used to in the almighty CANDLEMASS. Not to mention there is great rhythm part that is somewhere between early TIAMAT and BLACK SABBATH. The track really sets the tone perfectly for the rest of the album.

What follows is "Undying Distress", that track that shares the raw emotion of the previous song, yet has some really nice and heavy rhythm riffs with a slight middle-eastern twist. The vocals are also much lower in tone in this song, quite the change from how they sound in the opener. There is a lot of groove in the guitars and the bass lines and some well-performed vocal harmonies on top of those wonderful riffs. "Hollow Gaze" has some pounding drums, a bit more distortion and some killer chord progressions that really reminded of the early days of SOLITUDE AETURNUS. They really know how to capture the essence of late 1990's and early 2000's doom metal, yet having their own sound and take on what has been dubbed "depressive metal" by metal listeners who don't understand what lies beneath all that sadness conveyed in the notes and vocals. Who does not appreciate a little not to "Children of the Grave" every now and then?

Finally, we have the closer "Urn for the Ashes of Gods" that also starts off with a bit of drum mastery and low guitar tones that reverberate through it. This is by far the heaviest song on the album with a nice and crunchy guitar sound, that should make fans of ISOLE happy. As much as the EP starts off strong, it closes with a very meaty number. I had never heard of this project before and I am thoroughly impressed by their production quality, their melodies and the overall structure of each song that manages to sound fresh and pays homage to some of the greats in the doom metal genre at the same time.