Alone 1980 : Alone… Forever

Mikael Skoog, aka Alone 1980, has been quiety filling the void with sonic dread for a few years now. His imagined soundtrack world is all encompassing and locks into classic synth scores to early 80s VHS nightmares. He’s also paved his own circuital music path that began with artists like Slasher Film Festival Strategy, Ogre, and Pentagram Home Video.

Up to this point Skoog has self-released Alone 1980 on a pretty consistent basis, but his latest, Alone… Forever, has come out on the always excellent Spun Out Of Control. And not only that this is Alone 1980s first physical release, dropping on digital and two different cassette variations.

I’ve been following Alone 1980 ever since the release of the debut EP back in 2018. Since then Skoog has released a consistently great run of horror/sci fi/dystopian scores to films not yet made. Sounds that run the gamut from dark and foreboding to ethereal and dream-like. Music you could listen to thru the headphones and get lost in the sights and sound Alone 1980 conjures.

The last album was November’s Street Trash From Outer Space. Where that album brought to mind the low budget trashy world of Troma, Alone… Forever is more Twilight Zone meets John Carpenter. A world that turns on the protagonist, showing those they thought they knew only to be strangers in disguise. So creating a new world in their mind is their only option. It’s another dark, mysterious, and at times just the right amount of dreamy listening experience.

Here’s what Mikael Skoog had to say about Alone… Forever, “These melancholic recordings are designed to bring back childhood memories and, perhaps, nightmares. They exist as an alternate reality, where life was supposed to be like a movie. Horror is never lurking far behind these analogue dreamscapes, to once again remind you that you are Alone… Forever.” “Local Hero” opens in a cloud of eerie drone, almost turning into some kind of dark fairy tale theme. “Castle In The Sky” has an almost 80s pop element to it with its synth sounds and slow electro rhythm. There’s almost an eloquence to it all; the calm before the nightmarish storm. I can almost hear touches of The Cure’s “Plainsong”. “Max Von Cyborg” is all chrome sheen and dark impulses, while “Cosmic Gate” brings to mind Fulci vibes at his seediest and nastiest. Touches of Frizzi permeate this track.

With tracks like “Noiseferatu”, “Serpent”, and closer “Evil Eyes” Alone 1980 is here to take us on a journey. A dark journey that will surely lay waste to your psyche if you’re not careful. You can only hide from the darkness inside your own mind for so long. Eventually, you’ll be lost… forever.

Alone… Forever is another classic imagined soundtrack from Alone 1980. Paying homage to 1980s VHS nightmares and the scores that made them, Mikael Skoog continues to hone his mini aural nightmares to a razor sharp edge.

Alone… Forever is still available on cassette via Spun Out Of Control. Buy it here.