I dug Chicago’s Mount Salem pretty well when I saw them last fall with Uzala and Mike Scheidt at the gotta-get-back-there-soon Dusk in Providence, RI (review here), and have since enjoyed getting the vibe of their debut EP, Endless, which seems to touch on a lot of the tenets of modern heavy — vintage this and that, cultish this and that, doomly heres and theres — without giving over to one side or the other completely. That only makes Mount Salem a harder act to trace and thus, all the more interesting. We all like a good puzzle every now and again, and the nascent Windy City troupe came with an already steady hold on an aesthetic that one hopes only becomes even more their own over time.

Touring will help in that regard, and Mount Salem have just announced they’ll head west out of Chicago next month for two weeks-plus on the road that include a couple of dates alongside Saint Vitus‘ on the legendary doomers’ 35th anniversary tour. If you want to get yourself schooled in doom, that’s an efficient way to do it. Pretty much a Masters class.

The PR boils forth from its cauldron:

MOUNT SALEM: Chicago Psychedelic Doom Conjurors Announce Headlining Tour

Chicago psychedelic doom rock conjurors and recent Metal Blade signees, MOUNT SALEM, will embark on a full headlining tour this May! The trek will pillage its way through select cities between Chicago and Los Angeles, and includes one-off shows in New Mexico and Arizona opening up for doom legends, Saint Vitus! MOUNT SALEM will be touring in support of their Endless EP.

MOUNT SALEM
5/01/2014 Township – Chicago, IL
5/02/2014 Dragonfly Lounge – Madison, WI
5/03/2014 JB’s Speakeasy – La Crosse, WI
5/04/2014 Chesterfield – Sioux City, IA
5/05/2014 The Bourbon – Lincoln, NE
5/06/2014 Larimer Lounge – Denver, CO w/ Speedwolf
5/08/2014 Launch Pad – Albuquerque, NM w/ Saint Vitus, Sons Of Huns
5/09/2014 Club Red – Tempe, AZ w/ Saint Vitus, Sons Of Huns
5/10/2014 TBA – Los Angeles, CA
5/11/2014 The Makeout Room – San Francisco, CA
5/12/2014 Witch Room – Sacramento, CA
5/13/2014 Slabtown – Portland, OR
5/15/2014 The Shred Shed – Salt Lake City, UT
5/16/2014 Future Shock – Frisco, CO
5/17/2014 Kung Fu Tap And Taco – Des Moines, IA

MOUNT SALEM is a four-piece psychedelic rock/doom metal band. They started writing music together in the summer of 2012 and released their first debut EP, Endless, in the Spring of 2013. Taking influence from the likes of Black Sabbath and Pentagram, MOUNT SALEM play loud, heavy rock ‘n’ roll using all vintage gear. Throwing their own twist of dark, mysterious doom into their summonings, MOUNT SALEM systematically pull listeners into their sinister realm of sound; their lyrical imagery serving as a ride all its own. Metal Blade Records signed the band in the Summer of 2013 and recently released an extended version of Endless containing two additional, brand-new tracks.

Mount Salem, “Lucid” from Endless (2013)