Archive 81: "Generation Crossing Is Out NOW!"

Podcast: Archive 81 (by Dead Signals)
Episode Date: November 12, 2024
Topic: Announcement and exclusive sample of the new concept album Generation Crossing

Overview

In this special episode, hosts Dan and Mark of Archive 81 step out of their usual roles to introduce their new creative project: Generation Crossing, an experimental science fiction concept album. They discuss the album's inspirations, its narrative focus on a centuries-long interstellar voyage, and share a hauntingly immersive audio excerpt. The episode offers a glimpse into the album's atmospheric world, touching on themes of isolation, religious ritual, and the existential tensions aboard a generation ship.

Episode Breakdown

1. Hosts Introduce Themselves and the Project

[00:02–00:24]

• Dan clarifies he's "the real Dan, not the Dan from the podcast," emphasizing the break from Archive 81's fiction (00:02).
• Mark joins in, playfully acknowledging the need to distinguish their real selves (00:07).
• The duo announces their new album, Generation Crossing, calling it a "weird science fiction concept album" (00:24).
• The project features monologues by Mark and music by Dan, focusing on "an 800 year voyage to a distant, distant planet and the society that forms along the way. Asteroids, religious schisms, the search for life’s meaning. Generation Crossing has it all." (00:24–00:40)

2. How to Listen and Who It’s For

[00:40–01:04]

• Dan stresses the album is "out now everywhere" (Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp), and that it's an album, "not a podcast" (00:40).
• They express confidence that Archive 81 and Deep Vault fans will enjoy it (00:40).
• Mark: "We'll have links to wherever you want to listen to it in the description of the podcast." (00:55)
• As a preview, they queue up an excerpt: "This is from the part where the ship society gets a little unravely, if that's a word." (01:04)
• Mark: "If you're excited for the album, turn off this podcast and listen now… If you still need some convincing. Here’s a cool kind of freaky section of Generation Crossing." (01:09)

3. Exclusive Audio Excerpt: Rituals and Unraveling Minds

[01:24–05:51]

• Monologue #1:
  • A character invokes the "Vayo aspect of Malia Patterson," a quasi-religious AI figure aboard the ship, seeking validation for ritual dreams and worries of societal decline (01:29–05:11).
  • The speaker recounts recurring dreams, omens ("the dimming of three founders, three dreamers, three saints"), and the gradual fading of hope and life aboard the vessel.
  • Tone is ritualistic, blending dread and devotion. Rituals and mortification are proposed as barriers against this social and existential "dimming."
  • Notable Quote:
    • "We have been waiting and arguing and doing nothing for cycles and cycles and cycles. And while we do so, the dimming approaches far quicker than planetfall." (03:38)
    • "We must be the conduits of the Founders, their vessels in the waking world, their true avatars of flesh and blood. We will perform their will until we are holy enough to sleep eternal and join them forevermore." (04:26)
• Monologue #2:
  • Another (or possibly the same) character, Sien, describes sensory deprivation, self-inflicted pain, and sleeplessness as acts of devotion and desperation (05:11–end).
  • Their thoughts spiral between religious zeal, melancholic reflection, and corporeal suffering—a mind fraying under the endless voyage.
  • Notable Quotes:
    • "Eyes pulled open with fingernails hitting my body in rhythm, in time, striking my body. The pain will keep me conscious." (05:15)
    • "When I lie awake, I think of how small the barrier between sleep and void is." (06:04)
    • "The difference between waking and sleeping is pain." (06:34)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Dan: "It's a weird science fiction concept album with monologues by me and music by Dan. It's all about an 800 year voyage to a distant, distant planet and the society that forms along the way. Asteroids, religious schisms, the search for life's meaning. Generation Crossing, it has it all." (00:24)
• Mark (joking encouragement): "If you're excited for the album, turn off this podcast and listen now… If you still need some convincing. Here's a cool kind of freaky section of Generation Crossing." (01:09)
• Monologue (on ritual and faith): "We must be the conduits of the Founders, their vessels in the waking world, their true avatars of flesh and blood. We will perform their will until we are holy enough to sleep eternal and join them forevermore." (04:26)
• Monologue (on pain and sleeplessness): "The difference between waking and sleeping is pain. Is seeing the blood ooze almost red from your fingernail and feeling it in your sternum and your chest, feeling the conscious flesh. Prison trap. You are dreaming. State." (06:34)

Segments & Timestamps

• [00:02] Introduction: Dan and Mark out of character
• [00:16] Announcement of 'Generation Crossing'
• [00:24] Album concept, themes, and who it’s for
• [01:04] Set up for audio sample
• [01:24] Generation Crossing monologue sample begins
• [05:11] Shift to Sien’s perspective, sleep deprivation ritual
• [06:59] End of excerpt

Tone & Style

The episode moves from cheerful, self-aware banter to a deeply unnerving, poetic segment from the album. The monologue section is haunting, immersive, and textured with religious symbolism and existential fear—capturing the unique blend of horror and speculative fiction that Archive 81 is known for.

Summary

For listeners intrigued by horror-drenched science fiction and deeply atmospheric world-building, this episode offers both behind-the-scenes context and a tantalizing preview of Generation Crossing. The excerpt promises an unsettling auditory journey through dream-logic, ritual, and the slow corrosion of hope in the dark "cycles" of space. If you've enjoyed Archive 81's signature blend of the psychological, the surreal, and the mythic, you'll find this a compelling reason to check out the album.