by Prog Nick
Music can make a difference in people’s lives, and Neal Morse’s music has certainly made a difference in mine. From his defiant Progressive triumphs in Spock’s Beard to the elaborate later stylings of NMB, all the way through to his more personal solo projects, Morse has repeatedly proved himself not only to be one of the most prolific voices in Prog, but also one whose efforts truly make a difference in the lives of his fans.
From time to time, naysayers have accused Morse of repeating himself, whether stylistically or compositionally. Whilst there can be an occasional familiarity in some of his songwriting, Morse has nonetheless seen to the constant musical reinvention of himself, sometimes spurred on by the personnel changes in his various bands. His more recent compositions are sometimes darker, sometimes jazzier, sometimes more overtly religious and indeed sometimes less so, but the unique stamp of Morse’s compositional gifts – glorious melodies, dazzling arrangements and highly emotive delivery – are pretty much always there. Insofar as familiar motifs and styles might appear, so good are these, and so prolific is the man in delivering them, that this reservation becomes lost in the ocean of brilliance that he so regularly confers.
Subsequent to Mike Portnoy’s re-joining Dream Theater in late 2023, Morse has by no means let the grass grow under his feet. He has formed no fewer than two respected new Prog bands since then, the latest being the much-anticipated Cosmic Cathedral. This band features the legendary Chester Thompson of Frank Zappa and Genesis fame on drums, Glass Harp’s Phil Keaggy on guitar and bassist Byron House, a renowned session player for various musical giants such as Robert Plant. Importantly, Keaggy and House have worked with Morse previously, the former on Morse’s now-legendary ‘One’ album and the latter on his first solo Prog project ‘Testimony One’. The chemistry between the four elder statesmen who comprise this band is palpable, and it is fair to state that a fifth presence, respected sound engineer Jerry Guidroz, contributes to the chemistry by doing far more than just mixing the ingredients.
The album starts off in a surprisingly jazzy manner, but elaborate classic Prog soon arrives, as opening track ‘The Heart of Life’ builds into a fitting 9-minute overture for the album. Morse’s voice is particularly expressive on this song, and his celestial lyrics are very uplifting. The track sets the tone (and the listener’s expectations) very clearly: this will be a Morse-driven but highly collaborative adventure that will satisfy the maestro’s established legions of fans, but will also please those who have a desire for something different. There is a surprising groove and a funkiness in ‘The Heart of Life’ that will sound quite fresh to Morse fans, and this freshness is largely brought to the fore by the varied techniques of his new band-mates. Thompson has a very light touch (certainly far lighter than Morse’s previous drummers) but his pocket is discernible and incessant. Keaggy has an approach to his solos and rhythm-playing that is more soulful than technical, and House has a monstrous but economical bass sound that fits this new picture perfectly. It all creates a slightly new filter for the delivery of Morse’s compositions, though the light behind the lens burns just as intensely.
The high quality of the album is further declared in second track ‘Time to Fly’, which is a laid-back but pocket-laden exposition of Morse’s proclivity for writing a lasting hook – only now in the context of co-composition with Keaggy and the other members. There is a sax solo, a choir and an affirming message about the positivity of life, and by now the listener is comforted in the knowledge that novelty and familiarity can indeed go hand in hand to conjure excellence.
‘I Won’t Make It’ is more maudlin and introspective, but is, as AOR ballads go, powerful enough, with strings and tympani backing Morse’s message of the need for divine assistance in life. It is somewhat cloying in parts, but never overly so, and it certainly strikes an emotional chord.
Fourth track ‘Walking In Daylight’ starts very promisingly, with a choppy keyboard groove that pledges something special and unusual. Keaggy takes lead vocals on this track and does an admirable job, but it is with his guitar work here where he excels. The song features an excellent instrumental bedrock, and is very pleasing. The keyboard and guitar solos are particularly good, and the middle section sounds almost like King Crimson circa ‘Red’, updated to 2025. There is a poignant and eloquent guitar solo in which Keaggy redeems the track.
The centre-piece and magnum opus of the album is ‘The Deep Water Suite’. Comprising 9 sections and over 38 minutes, this is a varied and complex adventure of the highest standard. It is sprawling, excellent and extremely diverse. The suite begins with the Morse vocoder refrain: ‘Launch out into the deep water – come down, it will be better than you know’. This motif reoccurs with regularity between the various sections, is given multiple treatments from symphonic to cinematic and everything in between, and it becomes more emphatic every time it is used. The ‘Deep Water’ allegory, of course, relates to the commitment of entrusting one’s life to a higher power. Launch Out – Part One’, is much more than just another overture and it emphasises, for one thing, the new funky chemistry that is to be heard in combining Morse’s voice with the growling thunder of House’s bass and Keaggy’s resonant guitar. In particular, the verse has a huge guitar riff that grooves along like a marching metallic beast. Then comes deep lament in ‘Fires of the Sunrise’, which is a peaen to self-introspection, not unreminiscent of parts of ‘The Similitude of a Dream’ (‘TSOAD’). Here, the use of Keaggy’s voice is much more successful, in the context of him dueting with Morse. ‘Storm Surface’ is a Prog-metal instrumental that focuses on Keaggy’s excellent howling guitar work and it again will please fans of ‘TSOAD’. After the ascendant interlude of ‘Launch Out – Part Two’, ‘Nightmare In Paradise’ immediately presents itself as one of the high points of the album, with Morse delivering intense and vivid lyrics over a House/Thompson groove that profiles a new go-to rhythm section in Prog. High-intensity straight ahead rock then arrives with ‘New Revelation’, a fabulous section that apparently (and remarkably) almost did not make it on to the album. This would have been a grave error, because it grooves like a tsunami propelled by the hurricane-force wind of House and Thompson. After the symphonic ‘Launch Out – Part Three’, the suite resolves with ‘The Door To Heaven’, an epic section that is closer to what Morse fans have come to expect over recent years. A slow, building musical climax allows the band to express their sentiments of faith through sweeping, expansive grandeur that ends with the final refrain of the ‘Launch Out’ motif. ‘The Deep Water Suite’ is an epic endeavor indeed, and one can just imagine it being performed with huge choirs and the casts of thousands that Morsefest has become known for. It will be perfect for the 2025 edition of that event, and it seems to me that Morse might have had this in mind when constructing the piece with his cohorts.
It has been stated that much of ‘Deep Water’ came out of jam sessions, and this element is recognizable in the final production. It feels as if the four members (five if you count Guidroz) started by speculatively feeling their way, until a definitive point arrived when the jam became a chemistry and the chemistry became a band. Put another way, there is an audible feeling of exploration that then clicks into a flowing and surprisingly well-oiled production. Thompson, with his feather-light jazz-fusion feel, obviously plays very differently to Morse’s previous drummers, and this pointedly brings out a different flavor in Morse’s performances. House plays no less of a role in the new chemistry, with a huge, snarling bass sound that is delivered with a palpably different groove and precision, allowing Morse to present from a different stance. Keaggy’s guitar, of course, is always soulful and musical, providing yet more space for the arrangements to breathe.
For those who care, the lyrics on ‘Deep Water’ are slightly more overt than those in, say, NMB, but no more so than on Morse’s solo albums, and they absolutely fit the spirit of the musical arrangements in which they are conferred. No-one should be deterred by the lyrics, because the accompanying music is too consistently excellent – and different – to be ignored, no matter what the views on spirituality. Musically, the album shines. It has shades of NMB (circa ‘TSOAD’) and hints of classic Spock’s Beard, but it also has a new, secret sauce of groove and funk that works eminently well, and no-one can expect much more than that. A panoply of musical flavors old and new, ‘Deep Water’ is a highly successful and perhaps genre-creating album. To coin a phrase, I think that Morse and his new cohorts may have just invented a new class of music to be known as ‘Melodic Groove-Prog’.
Cosmic Cathedral’s ‘Deep Water’, released in April 2025, is an important album and one that can make a real difference in your life if you let it. Highly recommended.
Released on April 25th, 2025 on InsideOutMusic
Order here: https://cosmiccathedral.lnk.to/DeepWater-Album
The full tracklisting is as follows:
1. The Heart Of Life 13:35
2. Time To Fly 6:53
3. I Won’t Make It 3:55
4. Walking In Daylight 8:56
5. Deep Water Suite I: Introduction 3:03
6. Deep Water Suite II: Launch Out, Pt. One 4:37
7. Deep Water Suite III: Fires Of The Sunrise 4:04
8. Deep Water Suite IV: Storm Surface 2:40
9. Deep Water Suite V: Nightmare In Paradise 6:58
10. Deep Water Suite VI: Launch Out, Pt. Two 1:51
11. Deep Water Suite VII: New Revelation 5:15
12. Deep Water Suite VIII: Launch Out, Pt. Three 1:48
13. Deep Water Suite IX: The Door To Heaven 7:51
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