CARAMEL is the ninth single released under alpha.zero and the fifth solo project by 1oolm.

The single was released digitally on October 11th, 2025 on YouTube and SoundCloud.

This release is preceded by TIMELOOP and followed by OUROBOROS.


As a major comeback record in preparation for the OUROBOROS album, CARAMEL takes inspiration from OUROBOROS' cyclical storytelling and compresses it by a factor of ten.
This track marks an evolutionary step for alpha.zero towards a greater variety of electronic music, mellowing out from hardcore and upgrading to a grander palette of self-expression.

THOUGHTS

Finishing OUROBOROS got me in an entire mood to vent out feelings in bizarre music.
You can tell because there are swear words, seemingly the first in alpha.zero's existence.

Here, I tackle cycles of hard, carnal addiction: drugs, alcohol, sex, you name it.
My personal takeaway is the sexual deviancy I've faced growing up online.

The track is split into four loose story beats:

---

1. HELL: fighting the urge to relapse
2. HIGH: "screw it" and the haze of the early high
3. CLOUD 9: pure, concentrated dopamine
4. HANGOVER: the consequences

The cover art is essentially a blanket covering the topics at hand:

• The described object is Pervitin: an early form of methamphetamine. Substance abuse, check.
• The only visible letters in the image are "Perv". Sexual deviancy, check.
• The trans flag is subtly overlaid in the background. Go figure.
  (During my time in denial, I've had a lot of self-doubt about my transition being genuine, thinking that it's baseless, and simply in the name of perverse fantasy.)

You can make something out of the way the image is framed, but I wasn't thinking of that.

LYRICS

i just wanna feel something

WE'VE ALL SEEN TOMORROW
LET YOUR TIME SHINE

FUCK WHAT YOU THOUGHT COULD NOT COMPREHEND
THIS SHIT IF I FISTED YOUR BRAIN WITH IT
TEN, NINE, EIGHT, SEVEN
TRIPLE SIX, FIVE, FORKED TONGUE

ATOMIC PENETRATION, RAPID FIRE THROUGH YOUR SKULL
HOW I SHOT IT IN ONE, TAKING IT BACK TO THE DAYS OF TRYING TO LOSE CONTROL
SWERVING IN A BLAZE OF FIRE, RAISING THROUGH MY BONES
OH SHIT I'M FEELING IT //TAKYON//
HELL YEAH, FUCK YEAH, I FEEL LIKE KILLING IT //TAKYON//
ALRIGHT, THAT'S TIGHT, WHAT IT'S LIKE TO EXPERIENCE //TAKYON//
FUCK WHAT YOU THOUGHT COULD NOT COMPREHEND
THIS SHIT IF I FISTED YOUR BRAIN WITH IT
TEN, NINE, EIGHT, SEVEN
TRIPLE SIX, FIVE, FORKED TONGUE
-------------------------------------
DEMONS MAY BE HIDING IN OUR SHADOW
AND THERE'S TRUTH TO WHAT THEY SAY

all fucked up
its all fu

HISTORY

//CONCEPT

--SEP16/2025/12AM

The idea for CARAMEL is first sketched out in my journal.

//CARAMEL 1

--SEP21/2025/10:02PM

First draft, started off as a mashup idea that went too far with original instrumentation.
Very far removed from the original visions presented in the journal entry. As such, LIFE IS CARAMEL is abbreviated to CARAMEL.

//CARAMEL 2

--SEP22/2025/05:06PM

A key change, and a sparklier mix. Also seen here is the addition of breaks, rhythmic chops (bits of flavor), and more vocals, the second half of the drop differing vastly from the final.
The glitches on this one suck.

//CARAMEL 3

--SEP22/2025/08:51PM

Be ready for a lot of mixing changes as this goes on.
Breaks galore for the second half, trying to bring some variety to it.
First version of the outro!

//CARAMEL 4

--SEP23/2025/10:06PM

First attempt at a full-length export, with a lot of silence and copy-paste in place of important parts.
I was originally going to spit breaks over the drop sample! Great!
Obligatory outro improvement.

//CARAMEL 5

--SEP25/2025/06:57AM

A different copy-paste for the pre-drop
The second half of the drop gets the final vocal sample, minus the key.

//CARAMEL 6

--SEP27/2025/02:40PM

Very rough intro and breakcore drop.

//CARAMEL 7

--SEP27/2025/06:36PM

Second half of breakcore drop gets its vocal sample.

//CARAMEL 8

--SEP28/2025/06:33PM

Huge jump in quality for the intro and breakcore drop, nearly final.

//CARAMEL 9

--SEP30/2025/10:03PM

The herculean task of transitioning between the breakcore and the main drop is attempted.

//CARAMEL 10

--OCT09/2025/04:42PM

My laptop was at repairs in the time between v9 and v10, so with the time I had to listen to music, I found a sample and made the intro longer.

//CARAMEL 11

--OCT09/2025/06:39PM

Final version. Minor fixes since v10.