Description
Deep Water is the debut album by the American progressive rock combo Cosmic Cathedral, released on Radiant Records in April 2025. The album was created largely from jam-sessions, resulting in what Neal Morse called “prog meets yacht-rock meets The Beatles”, and includes the epic 38-minute title track.
Featuring Neal Morse on keyboards, guitars, and vocals, Phil Keaggy on guitars and vocals, Byron House on bass, with Chester Thompson providing drums and percussion.
Promo
Cosmic Cathedral – the union of Neal Morse (Transatlantic), Chester Thompson (Genesis), Phil Keaggy (Glass Harp) & Byron House (session player with Robert Plant, Dolly Parton, etc.) – are pleased to announce the release of their debut album ‘Deep Water’ on the 25th April 2025 via InsideOutMusic.
How do you make an album that is different to what is usually expected of you? One answer is to work with musicians who also have decades of experience and worldwide recognition, plant a few seeds, then stand back and see what happens. For the Cosmic Cathedral project and their debut album ‘Deep Water’, this is exactly what Neal Morse did, joining up with Chester Thompson, Phil Keaggy & Byron House. As Keaggy comments: “It was an honor to be invited and included in the making of the Deep Water project with Neal, Chester and Byron.”
Much of the album was created from jam sessions where Morse’s long-time audio partner Jerry Guidroz put the best parts together, then Morse and the band developed them into songs and epics. “Much of the album, and certainly «Time To Fly», came directly from the jam sessions, where we were spontaneously creating in the room. Even a lot of the lyrics just came out of our mouths! It was amazing!”
What resulted from all this was a more groove-orientated feel, which Morse calls a “prog meets yacht rock meets The Beatles” kind of album, with an unmistakable jazz fusion influence: “These guys are real groovers: even if they’re playing proggy stuff, it has more of a Steely Dan feel to it, but when Phil and I start singing it sounds like The Beatles! In Deep Water, the ‘New Revelation’ section is based on a jam that turned into something that could have been on a Sting album! So there’s a lot of variety here.” Keaggy adds: “The album is a musical feast- full of creative imagination and heartfelt lyrics. In my opinion, this recording is one of the highlights of my musical career!“
And Chester Thompson says, “I am super excited for people to hear this album. There was great communication between all the players. One of my favorite projects I’ve ever been a part of!”
And coming from someone who’s played with Genesis and Frank Zappa, that’s quite a statement!
Well, here’s some really good news for those of you who are waiting for some new music by Neal Morse. Or Phil Keaggy. Or Chester Thompson. Or Byron House. All of the above have new music available – and it’s all on one new project called Deep Water. This stunning combination of musicians goes by the name Cosmic Cathedral, and these players do indeed come from the far-flung recesses of the music universe. Morse is a well-known progressive rock icon, having reached success with the legendary Spock’s Beard and continuing to forge ahead with solo projects, collaborations with the likes of Flying Colors and the prog supergroup Transatlantic, various side-projects and of course ongoing work writing music, singing, and playing guitars and keyboards with The Neal Morse Band. Phil Keaggy is a world-class guitarist as well as a fine singer/songwriter, first with the rock trio Glass Harp, then fronting CCM bands and performing countless solo performances featuring his unique blend of Beatle-esque pop, jazz, and rock. Phil’s career has allowed him to play alongside such luminaries as Tony Levin, Jerry Marotta, and – yes – once with Paul McCartney. Legendary drummer Chester Thompson, aside from his work with jazz group The Chester Thompson Trio, has played with (among others) Genesis, Weather Report, John Fogerty, Santana, Michael McDonald, and Frank Zappa, in Zappa’s much loved and respected ‘Roxy’ period band. Supporting the music on bass is the grammy-nominated Byron House, whose work has been heard on albums by everyone from Al Green to Amy Grant, Jorma Kaukonen, Linda Ronstadt, Nickel Creek and Vince Gill – not to mention touring with the likes of Robert Plant!
The big question of course is, what does this all sound like? Mindless jamming – as awesome as even that could sound with these musical heavyweights – wouldn’t stand up to many repeated playings. Don’t expect a battle of musical egos. Thankfully, Deep Water is made up of four well-structured songs and one massive nine-part 28-minute suite (the «Deep Water Suite»). If you played this album without any information and had to guess who it was you most likely would assume it was a Neal Morse project. Of the thirteen tracks on Deep Water, Neal wrote four and the remaining nine are collaborations between all of the players born out of jam sessions and organized from that material into solid songs. Morse’s distinctive vocals are present on most of the songs, often joined by Keaggy’s – and the result is wonderful every time. The overall feel of the album is definitely prog but with a jazzy, funky vibe that occasionally flirts with sophisticated Steely Dan-level pop. «Storm Surface» is the project’s sole instrumental track, allowing the guys to strut their stuff in a gutsy way. The bass and drums give solid support to synths and Phil gets to wail away with some spacy guitar. From the opening heavy melodic run to Neal’s growling organ, the band is a driving musical force.
The album starts out with a jazz/prog fusion intro in the thirteen minute «The Heart of Life», with the whole band working like a well-oiled machine, and offering the first example of just how good Morse and Keaggy sound vocalizing together. «Time to Fly» is fast becoming a favorite track for me. The song has a deep, rock-steady groove and soulful keys – and is full of fluid, juicy guitar licks from Phil. Under it all, House provides clean, no-nonsense bass and Thompson plays wonderful little tricks with the timing. The vocal chorus, over some tasty horns, is a thing of beauty – and so is the fade-out. A strong ballad, Neal’s «I Won’t Make It», is basically a prayer for strength, powerfully delivered. A striking drum fill opens «Walking in Daylight», which goes forward with a nice funky riff on the keys, jazzy drum patterns and beautifully melodic bass playing. Keaggy performs lead vocals on this song – and his vocals are a pleasure – along with some soaring guitar work while Neal gets in some tasty jazzy piano passages. House starts out an effective middle section with some evocative base lines that strongly carry the song forward into some dazzling Keaggy fretwork.
The balance of the project is made up of the «Deep Water Suite», composed of nine parts, some are transitions only a couple of minutes long, while the longest, «The Door to Heaven», is nearly eight minutes. There are stand-out moments throughout all of these parts – too many to detail (although I’ll mention some). It’s fascinating to hear how Phil Keaggy becomes a vocal chameleon when trading vocal verses with Neal on «Fires of the Sunrise». Chester’s subtly furious drumming and Byron’s busy bass lines on «Nightmare in Paradise» are pretty amazing to focus in on. «New Revelation» is an absolute delight, with every band member cooking to the max. It’s built on an infectious funky riff (Byron House and Chester Thompson really shine here) and features some wonderful trade-off vocals between Phil and Neal. The song has tons of energy and a nice deep groove – it delivers everything you’d expect from these men.
«The Door of Heaven» closes the album in a big, majestic way. Of course, Neal is the master of the Big Ending, and this song has more than one. It’s melodic, emotional, full of modulations, wonderful back-up vocals and returning themes. Toward the end, the vocal lead switches from Neal to Phil, who takes main chorus to vocal heights that are truly inspiring. Yes, it’s a BIG ending. You knew it was coming – but it is amazing!
Lyrically, the album pulls no punches about being explicitly Christian in nature – and I’m okay with that. This music isn’t subtle so why should the message be buried in metaphors and veiled language? While so much in the prog world is about mystery, doom, and mysticism I’m glad to see projects like this and the recent Glass Hammer Rogue album boldly talking about spiritual Truth. At the same time, I’d absolutely love more instrumental tracks by these guys – I do hope there will be further collaborations, whether as Cosmic Cathedral or perhaps a Keaggy project. Maybe they’ll launch out into even deeper musical waters. [Bert Saraco, The Phantom Tollbooth, 2025-04-11]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/deep-water/1794970958)
CD tracklist:
01. The Heart Of Life
02. Time To Fly
03. I Won’t Make It
04. Walking In Daylight
05. Deep Water Suite I: Introduction
06. Deep Water Suite II: Launch Out, Pt. One
07. Deep Water Suite III: Fires Of The Sunrise
08. Deep Water Suite IV: Storm Surface
09. Deep Water Suite V: Nightmare In Paradise
10. Deep Water Suite VI: Launch Out, Pt. Two
11. Deep Water Suite VII: New Revelation
12. Deep Water Suite VIII: Launch Out, Pt. Three
13. Deep Water Suite IX: The Door To Heaven
Note: Released on both Limited Edition CD housed in a digipak and as a 12-inch vinyl double LP pressed on Translucent Sea Blur vinyl, housed in a gatefold sleeve. Available at Bandcamp: https://insideoutmusic.bandcamp.com/album/deep-water-24-bit-hd-audio
“Deep Water Suite: Launch Out, Pt. One” (MUSIC VIDEO)
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