Style: progressive rock (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Neal Morse, Spock’s Beard, The Flower Kings
Country: United States
Release date: 25 April 2025
Some artists are instantly recognizable. No matter what assemblage of (international) musicians Neal Morse brings together, I can tell a project is his within thirty seconds, guaranteed, even without taking into account his distinct timbre; resultantly, his projects like Spock’s Beard, Neal Morse Band, and Transatlantic have long been a sort of comfort music for me. They’re predictable, familiar, and, for the most part, consistently quite good1. Since 2019, though, ol Nealy’s disappointed me with a string of bland music, under his own name, with Transatlantic, and with DM&J. But Morse has proved himself time and time again over the past thirty years, so I’ll still give any new album of his a good shake.
Cosmic Cathedral is Morse’s newest assemblage of musicians: joining the main man are prolific Christian guitarist and vocalist Phil Keaggy, session bassist Bryon House, and jazz drummer Chester Thompson (Weather Report, Genesis, Santana). Naturally, no matter who’s in the group, Deep Water is still a Neal Morse album at its core. In modern times, that means Christian lyrics, sweeping epics (Deep Water concludes with its thirty-eight-minute title suite), tons of solos, and a suffocating level of cheese—neo-prog at its finest and gaudiest (and God-iest!). Moreover, Deep Water has some energy to the performances, the album largely recorded during jam sessions. It seems all set up to be a return to form for Morse, and as I will detail shortly, Deep Water is a definite improvement on his last string of drivel. Yet, it stumbles into the same pitfalls I could have told you it would before hearing a note.
In the promo material for Deep Water, Cosmic Cathedral are supposedly melding progressive rock, The Beatles, and yacht rock, but other than the yacht rock banger “Time to Fly,” the album is entirely the same neo-prog you’d expect. Morse does not beat the allegation that each of his albums sounds the same. Sleek, jazzy, and suave, “Time to Fly” is a fun experiment, with highlights including a brassy, Stevie Wonder-ish instrumentation, jammy flow, and a gospel choir in the chorus. The track doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but it’s a welcome addition to break up the monotony of a seventy-minute album of over-the-top progressive rock. Cosmic Cathedral attain some giddy highs within the Morse-paradigm, too. The hulking, thirteen-minute opener “The Heart of Life” could be from a Transatlantic album it’s so bombastic. Starting with Morse’s jubilant synths, slick piano, and plethora of keys during an overture of sorts, the track transitions to a tight jazzy section led by House on bass and with a Santana-ish guitar solo from Keaggy, all held down by Thompson’s tasteful grooves. The vocals are harmonized and gospel-like, the instrumentals straight from my favorite era of Morse’s career (00s Transatlantic), the songwriting hitting all of my favorite neo-prog cliches.
Yet “The Heart of Life” suffers because of the lyricism—as does the rest of Deep Water. Famously, Neal Morse and his projects are flamboyantly Christian, but the Jesus-y lyrics are frustratingly banal. Only so much creativity can be had writing about the same subject twenty albums straight, and the constant evangelizing is distracting. Deep Water isn’t even a concept album like some of the other too-Christian Morse albums of late; the songs are really just an endless string of preaching. Jeez Louise, can Cosmic Cathedral get saccharine, as well. The ballad “I Won’t Make It” is so disgustingly sweet it becomes bitter, like stevia. Again, these aspects of the album aren’t unexpected, but they are disappointing.
The thirty-eight-minute title suite, meanwhile, has high highs and low lows. Several movements feature shreddy solos and/or gospel choirs, and the sound reminds me of Morse’s modern magnum opus, 2016’s The Similitude of a Dream. However, the suite is quite disjointed, and the entire concluding movement is annoying: it contains an UNGODLY amount of proselytizing, and the ending is incredibly cliche with five minutes spent unconvincingly attempting to conclude as bombastically as possible. At some point, just ending the track rather than reprising a buildup ad nauseam is the stronger songwriting move. “Deep Water” is a mighty enjoyable suite, but in a career filled with 25+ minute tracks, Cosmic Cathedral’s album-length epic is not a standout for Morse.
With his new Christian crew, ol’ Nealy feels like he has some inspiration back, but the old adage rings true: you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. The man is a consistency king, a true disciple of Christ, and a prog rock icon. While I don’t wholeheartedly recommend this and would rank it near the middle of his extensive discography, Cosmic Cathedral’s Deep Water is a good album, prog rock for prog rock’s sake, an easy listen for any fan of neo-prog. But if you read this Neal, try the yacht rock more…
Recommended tracks: The Heart of Life, Time to Fly
You may also like: Pattern-Seeking Animals, Jacob Roberge, The Twenty Committee, Transatlantic, Mandoki Soulmates, Southern Empire, Moon Safari
Final verdict: 6/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram
Label: InsideOut Music – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website
Cosmic Cathedral is:
Neal Morse – keyboards, guitars, vocals
Phil Keaggy – guitars, vocals
Bryon House – bass
Chester Thompson – drums and percussion
- Reaching their zenith with 2009’s Transatlantic release The Whirlwind, a bona fide 10/10. Be on the lookout for a Lost in Time later this year *wink wink* ↩︎
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