Chariot-to-chariot, her light transcends all but the dark portal opened before us… Suffocating poor Helios to sleep, our day-to-night mythos pans along with the eye of its narrator toward a star-pocked sky in brass-touting announce as Thessalian witch-chants fill the eternal night air. Having cast their spell inconsolably into the dark in order to draw the moon down to light the way Brisbane, Australia-based atmospheric black metal artist Midnight Odyssey complete their Biolume triptych by the shocking grace and gravitas of Luna-Selene per this longest, last and arguably most dramatic entry. At just over two hours and bulging within its triple LP status it’ll be difficult to not get bogged down in discussions of length, scope and substance as ‘Biolume Part 3: A Fullmoon Madness‘ lends us its path into a realm lit only by stars, yet the ‘epic’ nature of the whole considered only adds to the mystique of its contents since so very few folk today persist with fortitude and wonderment necessary to greet such an involved and ambitious feature. There is a lot to muse over here and without existing well-formed opinions on the previous two pieces, much less the greater body of work form the artist, this one may very well prove beyond the depth of many an addled mind. Nonetheless the long-standing adorer will find themselves heaped, hunched and well-engulfed in the sensorial majesty available herein.

Dis Pater formed Midnight Odyssey back in 2007 having been quickly embraced by atmospheric black metal fandom the world over soon finding their first two demos reissued and a debut LP (‘Funerals from the Astral Sphere‘, 2011) abuzz by 2011 as I, Voidhanger Records began their enduring campaign to support the elaborate standout vision of the artist. Their work has generally compared favorable versus the sodden trendiness of the sub-genre elsewhere but particularly when bedroom black metal blackgaze and thoughtless crescendo core was probably at its worst. We’ll gladly stop there in terms of any real retrospective since I’d done well enough to take that trip in my review of their sixth LP (‘Biolume Part 2: The Golden Orb‘, 2021) an album which I’d absolutely loved, whole-heartedly immersed into for ages, and eventually set at #6 on my 75 Best of 2021. The sum of it is that at that point the artist were known for a few things: First a “cosmic” black metal form which refers to a niche style of atmospheric black metal of widely varying quality/effort, then an epic heavy metal and black/doom metal inspired sound which’d arrived on the cumulative and grand-standing aforementioned sixth album, and finally a series of pandemic-era dungeon synth releases which eventually became a three-hour long compilation not too long ago. In my opinion the seeming excess of this artist’s work has consistently yielded great works but this observation is primarily limited to the now three-part Biolume series which’d began back in 2019.

On some level there must be some manner of mourning done by the longform artist, or, a necessary writing off of the listener’s experience when it comes time to compose a great, outsized work beyond the average attention span or interest of any perceived market/audience. Setting alight a full ~125 minutes of music for a triple LP is no small feat and the assumption is that the vast majority of underground listeners in 2023 are not only overwhelmed to the gills with options per every single whim of the post-lockdown artist but won’t have allow any serious attention span, patience, or bear an inquisitive nature enough to experience every detail of said work. Though I cannot relate, the average listener should rightfully view a two hour release as impenetrable in terms of identifying hot spots to sync with their long-term memory generation. In the case of ‘Biolume Part 3: A Fullmoon Madness‘ there are big songs and emotionally driven moments which prove unforgettable enough to offer points to latch onto but there are admittedly fewer pieces which allow my already-primed mind to root and route through the heft of such an undertaking this time around. Each piece has some place to go or develop, though I couldn’t escape the sensation that a solid half hour could’ve been cut away and the story might’ve still been well intact.

In my time with this record the first twenty minutes were most crucial, as was the case with the grand opening of ‘Biolume Part 2: The Golden Orb‘ (2021), wherein “As Darkness Dims the Fire” clarifies the intent of this release as something less in tune with the epic heavy/doom metal of the last entry and instead gives us the motoric and striding drum patternation once would associate with Midnight Odyssey‘s earlier work alongside the distanced, rasping cadence of Pater‘s vocals more often, pairing toppling blasts and rolling double-bass drum pulse beneath with declarative vocal breaks and humming keyboard/synth work, all of it still warm from the downing of the sun. As we reach the ~8:08 minute mark we are hit with a reminder of what the first part(s) of this trilogy came to represent thanks to its Moonsorrow-esque keys and bounding atmospheric black metal tendencies though this work never reverts fully back to the severity of attack which Biolume Part 1 had lead with, a certain droning violence which is changed today. What I’d felt was telegraphed here directly enough was that all of these things had become part of Pater‘s arsenal and here he begins to craft a fusion of the events of those first two parts for this longer, more involved final third.

Before we put to bed the empyrean fire of Helios‘ chariot on “As Darkness Dims the Fire” the bounding orchestral hits and upward cast vocal melody which signal the connective bulk of the piece in its second half, a tuneful yet yearning state which carries through the melody driven standout “A Land That Only Death Knows”. Side A of this first part (LP1) sets its scene and invites the listener into a steadier, more relaxed vision of atmospheric, spaced-out black metal yet we hit the point of somewhat average bedroom black metal drum escalator sensation on “The Long Forgotten Dead”. At that point the album began to lose some of its appeal per my own tastes since it’d seem clear enough that the epic doom, heavy metal and vikingr metal inspired stature of the prior album hadn’t carried over in full though we do find a mixture of expanded clean vocal oeuvre, chorale, and headier atmosphere do. This means the production values and heavily layered structures of Midnight Odyssey are still intact but this encroaching darkness and the celestial conflict of the gods is depicted accordingly through a celestial-shot form of atmospheric black metal. The peak of this almost second wave confrontation and dramatism in a high-fantasy feeling roar was “The Horned Goddess” for my taste, a black metal pace which runs on snarling and bashing at its echoic resonance for a flattening ten minute duration.

There are many beautiful vistaes to climb (“They Have Always Known”) and at least a few truly memorable spikes within these larger pieces (see: ~4:28 mins into “A Land That Only Death Knows”) per Midnight Odyssey‘s expansion of melodic vocal arcs on that first third of the full album but when reaching for “Witching Eyes” we finally grasp one of the more substantive, engrossing choral pieces from Dis Pater of late. This enchanting and voluminously arc’d piece would quickly prove unforgettable beyond my second spin of this release and it’d become one of my most anticipated points of ingress into the immersive midst of the full listen; No doubt the second third (LP2) of the full listen is decidedly its dramatic break through the clouds and the darkness beyond the oncoming devastation which greets us on LP1. For my taste the “eureka” moment in latching onto the general theme of the record began to occur nearby “Witching Eyes” to start but also by way of the general motif reprised on “The Ghost Of Endymion”, another sublimely tuneful piece which fully cracks open ~2:17 minutes, just beyond its first verse as the chorales raise and the rasps patiently growl beneath. There is an ornate dance to these sort of ‘epic’ folken melodies which the artists creates and I was stoked that this album still heavily featured these moments in droves and long-winded expanse.

If one wills to die, Death can never fail. — LP3 or, the final third of the experience is probably the only portion of the album which’d proven divisive per my own taste as it starts out inspired with the title track, “A Fullmoon Madness”, embodying the personae and the madness of Medea in her celestial tirade, an often orchestral piece which presages the stamping ‘epic’ of “In the Lunar Maelstrom” within its many twists and turns. A heavy metal piece in its core melodic arc before it begins to interrupt its main features with cycles of refrain, to me this song (“In the Lunar Maelstrom”) is perhaps the most “JRPG battle music” piece of the lot thanks to its lead guitar melody and eh, in my world that is actually very high praise for the feeling of sojourn imbued and the kicking beat beneath. I’d probably left that song on repeat for upwards of four or give hours for the sake of its energetic drive and tuneful lead; From that point the final side of LP3 is somewhat vestigial beyond its important portion of the narrative/lyrics. That isn’t to say that “The Last Day” and its use of guitar synth, or, modulated synth wasn’t entertaining but that it’d served as the point where I wasn’t sure why the record was still pushing through its last three pieces. I didn’t feel like the strobing and wailing of that particular song brought as much of a peaking endpoint compared to the ride out of “In the Lunar Maelstrom”. The point of understanding I’d offer is that this album endeavors to sum the artist and their journey, this type of ambient/dungeon synth stuff is yet a big part of Midnight Odyssey‘s greater trip and the story told herein is just as important as retaining that level of expression.

As a full listen in a more relaxed, less analytical setting and treated as more of a ride through an ambitious ‘epic’ tale the charm of ‘Biolume Part 3: A Fullmoon Madness‘ becomes obvious enough. The fidelity of this recording is sharper than ever, allowing its warmest beginnings and tragedian endpoints to rear their dynamic showing on a bigger multi-speaker setup this time around rather than solely sticking to headphones for all necessary detailing. Otherwise you won’t find any truly off-putting or mind blowing sound design which displaces the already rapturous fidelity of the second entry in the trilogy, it seems all knowledge gained is additive and accumulates herein. This includes another impressive cover art from the brilliant Elijah Tamu, a presence which almost necessitates the purchase of the LP in order to gather the full triptych and square their scenery up all at once. With the physical and spiritual territory covered within the music and aesthetics of this record I cannot help but retain a very positive reaction to my time with this latest Midnight Odyssey work, even if the excesses here do feel egregious at times I’m not one to stomp out an enthusiastic vision which manages to hold it all together for two hours. There were ultimately enough ingenious, memorable points of interest served within the greater inlay of their work that I’d found this release essential. A high recommendation.

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