Track By Tracks: Greybeard - Dark Age (2022)

Ross: Funny you should ask… I wrote the graphic novel to accompany the album for this very purpose. As I was reading the lyrics and listening to the songs in sequence, I realised that the story I was telling wasn’t super clear (except in my head!!) So I decided to add the graphic novel into the fold. It just kind of came out of me one night. I’ve never written anything like this before so it was cool to think about how to combine images and words to tell the story. I found an Illustrator using Fiverr and they cranked it out in about 6 weeks. I really like the style as it is definitely anime-inspired but has a rough, raw feel to it. They did a great job of capturing some of the bleak images I had floating around in my head. I’m pretty stoked on how it came together. Fans will get the graphic novel when they purchase the CD or download the album, or they can purchase the graphic novel by itself. Everything is available via our Bandcamp page.

1. Boreal Decimation:

Inspired by the current state of the world when it comes to climate change. In the story, the protagonist is a boy/teenager who is watching the world basically fall apart and teetering on ecological collapse.

2. Light From 1,000 Suns:

Fast forward 25 years, the protagonist is living in a post-apocalyptic nightmare when the heat from the sun is devastating everything and has basically turned his part of the world into a sand-covered wasteland.

3. Barren:

The protagonist knows he needs to provide food and water for his family, both of which are very scarce. He lives in existential terror of leaving the safety of his home. This is also the first time he hears voices speaking to him about finding a way to save his family and just how desolate the future looks.

4. Vultures:

He ventures out into the ruins of his city where he is pursued by the scavengers who also are struggling to survive. He imagines them as a kettle of vultures who are waiting for their moment to take him down.

5. Beneath:

This is the dream sequence where the protagonist ventures back to his childhood and replays interactions with his parents. The song ends with him in a nightmare where he’s drowning and can’t get to the surface.

6. Terra Umbra:

This song describes the decimated city that the protagonist and his family are hiding in. It’s also the first time where his visions of “the witch” become part of the narrative. She persuades him to bring his family to the ocean where she promises salvation.

7. 1,000 Years of Night:

This song describes the beginning of the nuclear fallout that has occurred and how the family is struggling to find the ocean as that is what the protagonist has said they must do.

8. Hall of the Gods:

The family arrives at the ocean and the protagonist is commanded to sacrifice them to bring them the peace they deserve. He struggles with this command and in the end, it’s all in his mind as he has lost grip on reality and his sanity.

9. Dark Age:

This song serves as the crescendo and parting message on the album – if we don’t change the course we’re on we’re doomed.