| Musical Style: Progressive Rock | Produced By: Neal Morse & Jerry Guidroz |
| Record Label: Inside Out | Country Of Origin: USA |
| Year Released: 2025 | Artist Website: Neal Morse |
| Tracks: 5 | Rating: 95% |
| Running Time: 77:29 |
A super group, progressive rock band and jam band all rolled into one. That’s Cosmic Cathedral and its April of 2025 Inside Out Records debut full length Deep Water. Super group from standpoint of a Cosmic Cathedral roster comprising musicians with decades of experience and worldwide recognition, including lead vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist Neal Morse (Transatlantic & Flying Colors), lead vocalist and guitarist Phil Keaggy (Glass Harp), bassist Byron House (session player with Robert Plant, Amy Grant, Dolly Parton and others) and drummer Chester Thompson (Genesis).
Progressive in terms of manner in which Deep Water coalesces manifold musical forms up to and including jazz fusion, blues, AOR, hard rock, ballads and classic rock, while exploring not only epic territory with compositions in excess of ten minutes but also thirty minute plus ‘mega epics’ breaking down into multiple parts. The jam band aspect traces to the jam sessions Morse put together with his long-term musical partner Jerry Guidroz, which the band in turn developed into individual songs and epics. As noted in the groups press material: ‘Much of the album came directly from jam sessions (in which) we were spontaneously creating in the room. Even the lyrics just came out of our mouths!’
Album opens to thirteen and half minute “The Heart Of Life”. The jam band side to Cosmic Cathedral realizes in the three and half minutes instrumental opening to find Morse’s keyboards and piano dance alongside Keaggy’s bountiful lead guitar and House’s gutty bass. Remaining nine traverse the tranquil and serene, almost regal with a ballad like form as Morse commands with his stirring vocals, particularly for the heartfelt refrain. A second jam based instrumental run again finds Keaggy taking charge with his consummate soloing. Lyric snippet:
I was born with broken wings
I suffered many things I didn’t know
And at last I understand
There’s love that breathes His life into my soul
And eternal is the moment
And I can stand in Your light
And the moment is forever; breaking out like the sky
And forever is the reason
And the reason is the heart of life
“Time To Fly” ensues at seven minutes. It trends blues underlined classic rock - down to earthy, course grains and pebbly - but also serves as a duet, with Morse’s classic tenor handling verse sections and Keaggy’s McCartney-ish croon the wonderfully charged refrain. Saxophone of guest musician Mark Lenegier lends a jazzy character. This one brings to mind Morse’s The Neal Morse Band project.
“I Won’t Make It” at four minutes is albums most musically straightforward with a verse-chorus-verse AOR laced ballad aspect. Morse leads the inspiring way with his heartening keyboards and unyielding piano, while fitting cello adorns the backend.
A return to progressive territory with nine-minute “Walking In Daylight”. With Keaggy taking on lead vocal duties, song trends the upbeat with a fusion like feel found in complex orchestration and bluesy guitar as an echoing melody rises above the surface. House unleashes an ominous bass line instrumentally to go with airy keyboards and ascending lead guitar- Keaggy puts all doubters to rest as to his ranking among the world’s top guitarists! Lyric snippet:
Let the truth come raining down
Let the truth come down like a summer rain
Let the spark of light illuminate the day
Though we see through a glass darkly
We will see one day, face-to-face
True Light
I still hear Your voice
In such a way, I still have a choice
I can hear You calling me
Album closes to thirty-eight minute, nine-part ‘mega epic’ “Deep Water Suite”. To suggest it is complex, varied and profound might be an understatement. Hence, I do not wish to go into too much detail but rather focus on the basics as it pertains to breaking down each of the nine parts.
The journey begins with “Introduction”, a bristling three-minute instrumental highlighting an intense fusion of Hammond B3, exhilarative lead guitar and bass. Ensuing is “Launch Out - Part One”, soaring with its distinct ‘launch out’ melody and albums heaviest hard rock guitars (an arena rock feel materializes in the process) and “Fires Of The Sunrise”, warmer and richer with classic rock acoustic signatures and jazzy instrumental moments (featuring another Morse and Keaggy duet). Lyric snippet:
We try to insulate from every season
We’ve every reason to join the chorus
Perhaps the safest place isn’t proper
When all the water’s where the Lord is
After all this time you still don’t know
This is where you’ll find the gold
Those silver chains you used to wear
Will break where love runs everywhere
Instrumental territory returns on “Storm Surface”, also hard rocking as honed guitar riffs power in and out of the mix and Keaggy delights with his delectable soloing. Subsequent cut “Nightmare In Paradise” takes a dreamy and relaxed turn its seven minutes with jazzy bass intertwined with piano and an ethereal refrain flowing to soulful vocal melodies, while “Launch Out - Part Two” revisits the recognizable ‘launch out’ melody but in an AOR format with piano and organ. Lyric snippet:
And this is how the surface wins
As the deep becomes and embarrassment
We sleepwalk into push and shove
Still looking for our one true love
It’s a nightmare in paradise
Where our paradigms are like parasites
And you own the world, but it’s not enough
So you comb the evening pages, and you try to fill the gulf
“New Revelation” is one of albums finest, reveling in the blithe with its animated keyboards and heavy rocking partiality but also the salient as refrain embraces with commercial partiality. Additional value reveals in female choir vocals and bluesy soloing. Closing the magnum opus is “Launch Out - Part 3” in similar vein as its predecessors but in a moody, ballad-like layout and eight minute “The Door To Heaven” in maintaining the ballad themes with its restrained (almost worshipful) flowing to feathery guitar, woodwinds, piano and lavish harmonies. Lyric snippet:
You’re the water, the deepest place I know
The peace and promise that fills my soul
All hail King Jesus, His arms are open wide
He unlocked the door to heaven
Yes, he unlocked the door to heaven
Now we can pass from death to life!
Launch out into the deep water
Come down follow the knowing in your sou
We are not quite halfway through 2025 and Cosmic Cathedral debut Deep Water is in pole position for album of the year- and rightly so when acknowledging the ‘super group’ combining of Neal Morse, Phil Keaggy, Byron House and Chester Thompson. Impression is not so much a one off project but the work of a band with literally years of consistency and continuity under its belt. Such realizes in the form of the progressive based songwriting, encompassing epics in the eight to ten minute range but also those in excess of thirty minutes. Each of albums tracks flows naturally and proves a complementary fit with repeat play- no single piece seems a chore to listen despite the span. Best way to summarize is I hope Deep Water is the tip of the iceberg in terms of musical output from Cosmic Cathedral.
Review by Andrew Rockwell
Track Listing: “The Heart Of Life” (13:35), “Time To Fly” (7:54), “I Won’t Make It” (3:55), “Walking In Daylight” (8:56), “Deep Water Suite” (38:10)
Musicians
Neal Morse - Lead Vocals, Keyboards & Guitars
Phil Keaggy - Lead Vocals & Guitars
Byron House - Bass & Fretless Bass
Chester Thompson - Drums & Percussion
