Columbus, Ohio, heavy psych four-piece EYE will make their debut on Kemado with the LP/download Center of the Sun on April 3. The band, who were previously On the Radar-ized at the recommendation of Jesse Bartz of Lo-Pan, boasts former and current members of The Pretty Weapons, Deadsea and Teeth of the Hydra, but functions on a different wavelength than any of those bands, melding mellotron-era King Crimson with space-bound Pink Floyd cosmic exploration and beefing up warm, live-sounding tones with the occasional freakout or weighted jam. Listening to the four-song full-length, one doesn’t get the sense that EYE feel like they need to be heavy at any given moment, but neither do they shy away from it.

That only makes Center of the Sun feel more spontaneous, adding to one of the record’s great strengths. Another that works in similar regard is the sense of movement, and for that, I’m glad to be able to host the premiere stream of album closer “Rik Rite,” which brings forth some of EYE‘s best linear work. Jazzy snare fills underscore a space rock build that pays off twice, first fast, then slow, never losing its sense of melody or control. It’s a more than satisfying conclusion to Center of the Sun, with lyrical talk of interstellar harmonies and cosmic winds sounding not at all out of place amid just a touch of Om-esque ritual. It’s a gorgeous track from a gorgeous record and I hope you enjoy it on the player below:

[mp3player width=460 height=120 config=fmp_jw_widget_config.xml playlist=eye.xml]

EYE‘s Center of the Sun was recorded and mixed at Columbus Discount Recording and Backroads Recording in Columbus, OH, and features cover art by Anthony Yankovic. The album is due out April 3 through Kemado Records. More info is available through the band’s Thee Facebooks page or the label’s website.

Making their case in potent hooks and thickened newer-school riffing, Los Angeles trio Moab debut with Ab Ovo, a self-recorded full-length released via the ever-chic Kemado Records. The title, translated from the Latin, means “from the beginning,” and it’s appropriate enough for both Moab‘s first outing and the band’s approach to heavy rock, which takes what’s commonly thought of as the rudimentary basis of the genre and shapes it into a surprisingly individual form.

From the start of “So On,” which opens the record, Moab has a bizarre kind of cinematic feel to their songwriting. Guitarist/vocalist Andrew Giacumakis keeps mostly to a high register in his singing without veering into metallic silliness, and as Ab Ovo runs its course, his methods increasingly create their own context. The foundation of Moab‘s style — heavy riffs, hard-landing rhythms — is familiar enough throughout the ultra-Sabbathian verses of “Dimensioner,” but stylistic miles are traveled by the time “Lugh”‘s seafaring crunch or the bombast of “Fembot” take hold.

You could sit for days and trace the roots of the grooving swagger behind “Sated” or the unrepentantly wretched “More Love,” but Giacumakis — also Moab‘s principle songwriter and joined in the band by drummer Erik Herzog and bassist Casey Barclay — has Ab Ovo set with a definite progression in mind, and honestly, it’s more fun to follow it than analyze the footprints it leaves behind.

Giacumakis and Herzog are both former members of late-’90s indie outfit Buellton, and in the interview that follows, the guitarist explains his shift to a heavier aesthetic and discusses the recording and studio-building process that went into making Ab Ovo, what he learned about engineering from Matthias Schneeberger (who helmed Moab‘s demo, from which the cowbell-centric track “Dimensioner” is taken), the way the album crash lands into the two-part beast “Staring Wall,” and much more. Basically I thought the record was cool and figured a feature would be a good way to introduce people to the band.

Full Q&A is after the jump. Hope you dig it:

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This just in on the ol’ broken down?PR wire:

Rampaging Oakland, CA metal quartet Saviours have entered San Francisco?s Lucky Cat Recording Studios with producer Phil Manley (of Trans Am/The Fucking Champs) to begin work on the follow up to its critically acclaimed sophomore LP Into Abaddon.

Set for an October 13, 2009 release date, the as-yet-untitled Saviours album? will feature the forcible lineup of guitarist/vocalist Austin Barber, bassist Cyrus Comiskey drummer Scott Batiste and guitarist Sonny Reinhardt (ex-Watch Them Die), who joined the band in 2008. Fresh off a blistering performance at the 2009 Roadburn Festival in Tilburg, Holland — where the band shared the stage with such like-minded acts as Neurosis, Om and Saint Vitus — Saviours now hit the studio to capture what will undoubtedly be its most venomous recording to date.

In advance of the album?s release, Saviours will issue three new 7? records, all of which will drop on June 23. The vinyl-only EPs will be strictly limited to 500 copies each with artwork branded by Tim Lehi of San Francisco?s BlackHeart Tattoo. Details on the three EPs are as follows:

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