The Mask Murders is an instrumental Edwardian noir set in Deptford, London, in 1905. Across three acts, the album traces the path from a quiet neighborhood paint shop to the birth of modern forensic justice.

Act I lingers in the world of the victims: a small shop glowing under gaslight, dawn on Deptford High Street, and the low hum of London life. Two discarded masks, an open cash box, and whispers moving through the streets slowly bend the music toward unease. By the time the six days have passed, the city’s everyday sounds—fog, footfall, and a fading music hall waltz—have become the backdrop to a double murder.

Act II shifts into the interior of the new fingerprint bureau. Chamber textures tighten and overlap as motifs are passed between instruments like evidence between hands. Themes are examined, restated, and set in counterpoint, mirroring the growing list of matching points and the investigator’s struggle between professional certainty and private doubt. The sound is small, acoustic, and precise, rooted in early-twentieth-century harmony.

Act III moves to the courtroom and the gallows. Formal, hymn-like writing and slow tolling rhythms carry the listener through the trial at the Old Bailey, the weight of the verdict, and the quiet finality of a morning at Wandsworth. In the closing piece, the fingerprint patterns return in a cool, stripped-back epilogue, suggesting a future in which a few ridges on glass quietly govern life and death.

Prepared for the Stand

Volant Records is a story-driven label and shared universe: cinematic concept albums, stutter-house, western sagas, haunted pop, and hymn-like instrumentals. Home to Jupiter Morrow, Avaline Ingels, Shadow Face, Buck Ramble, Choralith and more. All Worlds Reserved®.