I can't. I just can't. Hello Helen, Mary's Song, Nathan Brindesi, The GGS... each of those is a delight in their own right and they are just a buildup to the finale. Starting with Helen's Lament the album grabs at your heartstrings and doesn't let go. It harks back all the way to the Cabaret referencing those tunes that built the characters up as it gives them an ending.

Absolutely lovely additions to The Mechanisms' signature twists on mythology and folklore, and an excellent expansion of the overall lore. I just wish Alice was expanded into a full album.

I was thinking of postponing the purchase until the whole arc comes out but after listening to the album once I had to grab it immediately. Musically it's the excellence I've come to expect: composition and performance, lyrics and vocals coming together to deliver a powerful payload of story and emotion. narratively it is the New Albion Radio Hour meta-narrative turned up to eleven and just when the dramatic cry of the Finale sounded off there came that final bit that made my jaw drop.

The album started intriguing, it was twisted and fascinating in the middle, turned bittersweet by the end and when it was over it left me craving more. I don't think I've heard the enthralling eldritch horror tinged with revelry done so well... ever actually, the music really does it justice, and the Norse myth figures are subverted masterfully.