Cosmic Cathedral is a project/band formed by workaholic, singer, songwriter, and keyboarder Neal Morse (Neal Morse Band, Transatlantic, Flying Colors), drummer Chester Tompson (Unitopia, Genesis, Frank Zappa, Santana), guitarist Phil Keaggy (Glass Harp) and bass player Byron House (Robert Plant). Their debut album is called Deep Water, and it contains five tracks, of which the epic centrepiece called Deep Water Suite, clocking in over thirty-eight minutes, is the absolute highlight! Lyrically Morse again, sad but true, struts his religious stuff way too much in songs like The Heart Of Life and The Door To Heaven, but musically this is a top-notch album indeed. This album starts with The Heart Of Life, a thirteen-minute jazz/prog fusion track with this amazing quartet playing at full force; indeed, so a great way to start this album! Follow up Time To Fly rocks and grooves, featuring soulful keys and great soaring guitar work by mister Keaggy. I Won't Make It is a "typical" Morse ballad, in my opinion, however, way too sweet, while Walking In Daylight is again a rather funky, jazzy kind of song with Keaggy doing the lead vocals here. Cosmic Cathedral then treats the listener to a true, new Morse epic, namely The Deep Water Suite, which is composed of nine parts, and it showcases the great musical abilities and skills of all four guys in the band. Suite 4 Storm Surface is the sole instrumental part of this remarkable epic and here the four musical musketeers really shine, while New Revelation features a funky riff and a vocal duel of Morse and Keaggy which is second to none indeed. The Door To Heaven is, musically speaking, a brilliant part, as it is utterly melodic and very emotional, with beautiful returning musical themes, ending this great album in a majestic kind of way. So, overall, these four guys delivered a great album, even tough I still have some "issues" with Neal's explicit Christian lyrics at certain times; but it is the wonderful music that makes it all right for me... another great prog album to consider for my top ten list of 2025! **** Martien Koolen (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
