Calgary-based experimentalist Stephen Moore returns with his fifth Post Death Soundtrack album, “In all my nightmares I am alone”—a 30-track behemoth that oscillates between feral chaos and fragile beauty. Like a shattered mirror reflecting Nirvana’s Incesticide and Jeff Buckley’s Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk, Moore’s work prioritizes raw truth over polish, asking only: “Is it good?”
The album’s extremes are staggering. Opener “TREMENS” was finalized mid-Delirium Tremens (a condition with a 15% mortality rate), channeling Skinny Puppy’s industrial fury and Nine Inch Nails’ unflinching despair. Tracks like “GOOD TIME SLOW JAM (IN ALL MY NIGHTMARES I AM ALONE)” and “A MONOLITH OF ALARMS” swing from reckless noise to Frontline Assembly-esque electronic grimness, while acoustic interludes offer unsettling contrast. Moore describes it as “a complete breakdown in audio format”—and indeed, the album weaponizes discomfort, confronting mental health crises with uncensored lyricism and a hallucinatory sonic palette.
Following 2024’s doom-metal praised Veil Lifter, this release excavates forgotten 2009–2011 recordings, reanimating them with new vocals and instrumentation alongside 15 fresh tracks. The result is a sprawling, schizophrenic manifesto: part philosophical purge, part primal scream. For those who dare lean in, “IN ALL MY NIGHTMARES I AM ALONE” rewards with moments of sublimity amid the wreckage—proof that Moore’s most harrowing work is also his most vital.
“VENUS IN FURS” is an appropriately subversive interpretation of Velvet Underground’s dirge classic. “WHEN THE WORLD IS BURNING BRIGHT” is a taunting 3 am gothic post-punk piece that lyrically confounds. There are no rules in Moore’s musical world. “FAST APPROACHING RADIANT LIGHT” once again jolts the pace along with a frantic breakbeat and an explosive, rousing performance. “SOMETHING STIRS”, also recorded in May 2025, is a song of mourning, partially based on the children’s campfire story “Who Has My Golden Arm?”, and partially based on Moore having his kittens stolen in the middle of the night, and the whole family robbed by an ex. Yes, truth is often stranger and more twisted than fiction, and this album is an uncensored walk directly through intensive trauma. “WE FALL”, simple as it is, can be a downright upsetting listen, even for Moore. Anyone who has lost someone they felt was integral might relate to this devastating, and very short, track.
“HYPNOTIZER” riffs on Led Zeppelin’s love for Eastern melodies that intertwine with solid hooks while delivering a message about the lack of media, social, and emotional literacy. “RIVER MAN”, an earnest cover of Nick Drake’s subtle classic, is very much a happy accident. Imperfect, yes. Moore recorded this himself in his apartment in 2010 after discovering he loved Nick Drake’s level of sensitivity and knack for communicating dark things through surreal lyricism. This is one of those cases where the performance just works better than a studio take and stands alone as it is. It could be the centerpiece of this release. “FINAL DAYS” is full-on punk rock with a rockabilly insanity to it, imagining the end of the world in a slightly comedic way and honoring both Refused and Swing Kids with its vicious energy.
“Reckless Fever”, “Oversoul”, “Start This Over”, and “Surrender” are moody acoustic tracks with a similarity in their sense of existential longing. Both were written after Moore discovered his love for all things Leonard Cohen.
“CRAWLING KING SNAKE”, recorded in May 2025, delivers an altogether unpredictable take on The Doors and their stellar version of John Lee Hooker’s classic blues expression. “HYPNOTIZER” riffs on Led Zeppelin’s love for Eastern melodies that intertwine with solid hooks while delivering a message about the lack of media, social, and emotional literacy.
“God’s Away On Business” is another of Moore’s favorite Tom Waits tracks, and it has a new groove, as it would be inappropriate to attempt to impersonate the man. Passion runs all of this process. “What’s He Building In There?” was newly recorded in 2025. It is one of Stephen’s all-time Tom Waits favorites, although there are many of them. This is the ultimate take of the nosy neighbor.
“An Anything” is a dark and moody, obscure cover of one of Stephen Moore’s lifelong friends, Ryan Smith, AKA My Arm Is An Ocean.
“Song for Bonzai” and “Desert Wind” provide more beautiful, more acoustic expressions. “Song for Bonzai” is the only instrumental on this release. Originally titled “Song of Joy”, after additional instrumentation and production, it is appropriately called “Song for Bonzai” in tribute to the brave black cat Bonzai, Stephen’s beloved animal companion, who passed very recently after a fight with diabetes, undiscovered underlying issues, and brutish vets. He was the bravest cub, but had too much goodness for this Earth and was simply stopping by. Moore made this album happen in the throes of mourning his boy. The pain on this album is real. “Desert Wind” is another apartment recording, recently mildly treated. It is a very simple song that carries some magic with its presence.
The tracks “What Did You Just Call Me?”, “I Would Surmise”, “Control”, “Trigger Finger”, “White Mare”, “Get Your Tickets Ready”, and “In All My Nightmares I Am Alone” were all recorded in 2025 as Stephen Moore put together this release.
IN ALL MY NIGHTMARES I AM ALONE is a harrowing, 30-track descent into sonic madness and emotional truth—part memoir, part meltdown, and all masterpiece. It’s the most fearless work of his career.
