Cosmic Cathedral is a new prog supergroup consisting of Neal Morse (Transatlantic), Chester Thompson (Genesis), Phil Keaggy (Glass Harp) & Byron House (session player with Robert Plant, Dolly Parton, etc.). But don’t be fooled, this is still very much a Neal Morse vehicle, as it has his fingerprints all over it. As a fan of Transatlantic, I tried some of Morse’s solo work back in the day and was delighted by one of his half-hour suites until he started explicitly preaching about following Jesus by the end; it was an utter buzzkill for an atheist such as myself. When I discovered that this was pretty much the standard for all his work since he became a born-again Christian in 2002, I decided to give his solo work a miss. When I had the chance to interview him, I did ask why he was able to differentiate so easily between Christian lyrics and more vague, theistic lyrics when playing in Transatlantic, and he gave a pretty solid answer to my question.
Even with the word “Cathedral” squarely in the band’s rather cringeworthy title (could they really not come up with anything better?) I had hope that Morse would be more in his Transatlantic mode when it came to writing lyrics, so that I might not be turned off again. Without spoiling too much, my hopes were utterly dashed by the end of the album.
For the record, I think that there is nothing inherently wrong with writing music about one’s religion, and from Morse’s passion over two decades, it’s evident that his faith is something he draws strong inspiration from. Why wouldn’t he write about it? But it does make his music more niche than it ought to be. If you’re an atheist, you can’t really vibe with some of the sentiments, and it tends to remind me of why I dislike religion in the first place: the way people use words from an ancient book to justify harming minorities and starting wars. Fortunately, another interview with Morse shows that he’s also against that kind of religion as well. At least we agree on something.
As soon as you boot up Deep Water, a fanfare prog intro in true Morse style greets you. This instrumental overture to The Heart of Life is absolutely fantastic and contains themes that you will hear later on in the 13-minute track. Morse noted that the album evolved from jam sessions, and there is a distinctly Camel-esque jam in some odd time signature just before the verse.
Then, the most Morse trope ever: after the full-prog instrumental, the group switches to a fully pop, Beatles-flavoured verse and chorus section that is undeniably catchy, with Morse vocalising a “whey-hey” or “woah-ho” between each line to carry the song. After these verses and choruses, we get a powerful bridge that explicitly mentions God, but it doesn’t even matter as the music is just that damn good. Even approaching his 80s, Chester Thompson is a force to be reckoned with behind the kit.
Yes, The Heart of Life has all the trappings of an excellent song by Transatlantic, although it has slightly older and slightly less skilled musicians on board, so we don’t expect quite as much virtuosity. With Pete, Roine and Mike on board, one might expect a furiously busy instrumental to build off the energy built in the bridge, but with this crew, the energy largely dissipates for a more stately, brooding instrumental jam.
By the end, however, Morse brings it all back around for one last verse and chorus, now done in a slower and larger scale to emphasise grandiosity before the reprise of one of the themes from the beginning. It’s… magnificent. It’s also frustrating because it’s one of the most predictable pieces he’s ever written, but I suppose if the formula isn’t broken, don’t fix it. He hits the notes you expect him to, but does so with enough panache that you’re not too bothered that there’s nothing surprising. The only thing I’m not a fan of is the unnecessary minute-long ambient fade out, which goes on just a bit too long.
And that is really the best this album has to offer. You needn’t really explore further, but you can if you feel like being disappointed. There are another three shorter tracks that have nothing of the pomp and ambition of The Heart of Life, and then there’s the 38-minute title suite, disjointed and incohesive. Worse still, it’s split into multiple tracks; most digital media players these days are absolutely hopeless with gapless playback, and I don’t understand why some artists split their tracks into pieces when most people would prefer to hear the suite from start to finish. I noticed that Steven Wilson has gotten around that by releasing both a version with conjoined and separate tracks for his latest album, The Overview. Be more like Wilson!
Some bits of Deep Water Suite are good, don’t get me wrong, but there’s also enough dross in this suite that you’ll probably get bored halfway through, if you’re not turned off by listening to what is essentially Christian propaganda. One instrumental part, Storm Surface, had me cringing so hard, as it has Morse practically dragging his elderly bandmates through awkward bars of 5/16 before dropping back into more familiar 4/4. In these lurching 5/16 parts, they barely seem like they’re staying in time, and it does not sound good at all. Once again, I could see Roine, Pete and Mike making mincemeat out of this section, and probably doing something far cleverer anyway. There’s nothing worse than prog for the sake of prog.
What does ‘Deep Water’ mean? As I listened to it, I thought, “I bet it means God.” And I was right. The closing 8-minute section, The Door to Heaven, confirms, “You are the water, the deepest place I know, the peace and promise that fills my thirsty soul.” And then it continues, “All hail King Jesus, his arms are open wide. He unlocked to Heaven, now we can pass from death to life.” Yes, it’s rather too Jesus-y for my liking. Even if the music was utterly brilliant, I would not be able to listen to this comfortably.
And there you have it. Cosmic Cathedral is rather like Transatlantic-lite with a few hefty doses of Jesus thrown in for good measure. For what it’s worth, The Heart of Life is an undeniable masterpiece, which shows that Morse is still a truly gifted writer of music, while the other offerings are inconsistent and make one doubt the viability of this supergroup in the long run.
TRACK LISTING
01. The Heart of Life (13:36)
02. Time to Fly (6:54)
03. I Won’t Make It (3:56)
04. Walking in Daylight (8:56)
– Deep Water Suite:
05. Introduction (3:03)
06. Launch Out, Pt. One (4:38)
07. Fires of the Sunrise (4:05)
08. Storm Surface (2:41)
09. Nightmare in Paradise (6:58)
10. Launch Out, Pt. Two (1:51)
11. New Revelation (5:15)
12. Launch Out, Pt. Three (1:49)
13. The Door to Heaven (7:51)
Total Time – 71:30
MUSICIANS
Neal Morse – Keyboards, Guitars, Vocals
Phil Keaggy – Guitars, Vocals
Bryon House – Bass
Chester Thompson – Drums, Percussion
ADDITIONAL INFO
Record Label: InsideOut Music
Country of Origin: USA
Date of Release: 25th April 2025
LINKS
Cosmic Cathedral – Website | Facebook | Bandcamp (IOM) | YouTube | X | Instagram
