Cosmic Cathedral is a new super band. The band members are: vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Neal Morse, dummer Chester Thompson, vocalist/guitarist Phil Keaggy and bassist Byron House. Their debut album ‘Deep Water’ was largely born out of jam sessions. You can hear Christianity in the lyrics, some more clearly than others. Some pieces are sung with a lot of passion, here you mostly hear Neal’s voice. The harmony/backing vocals are good quality, but regularly very “sugary.” In these parts, the music is mostly calm, yet certainly beautiful. Beyond that, instrumentally it is very varied, both in terms of instruments and style. There are numerous (wonderful) twists and surprises.
On the review download, not all transitions between parts of ‘Deep Water Suite’ (the 38-minute epic) flow smoothly. On the CD, I’m sure this will be flawless. Because of its construction, ‘The Door To Heaven’ is really the closing track.
You can hear that top-notch musicians are at work here. Although Neal’s style is clearly present, the other musicians have also put their mark on it. This results in a fine (though sometimes very sugary) blend.
(8/10) (InsideOutMusic / Sony Music)
Tracklist:
01 – The Heart of Life 13:39
02 – Time To Fly 7:14
03 – I Won’t Make It 3:59
04 – Walking In Daylight 9:03
05 – Deep Water Suite I: Introduction 2:42
06 – Deep Water Suite II: Launch Out, Pt. One 4:37
07 – Deep Water Suite III: Fires Of The Sunrise 4:06
08 – Deep Water Suite IV: Storm Surface 2:41
09 – Deep Water Suite V: Nightmare In Paradise 6:59
10 – Deep Water Suite VI: Launch Out, Pt. Two 1:40
11 – Deep Water Suite VII: New Revelation 5:37
12 – Deep Water Suite VIII: Launch Out, Pt. Three 1:39
13 – Deep Water Suite IX: The Door To Heaven 8:29
Line-Up:
Neal Morse – keyboards, guitars, vocals
Phil Keaggy – guitars, vocals
Bryon House – bass
Chester Thompson – drums and percussion
Cosmic Cathedral – Deep Water
Cosmic Cathedral is een nieuwe super band. De bandleden zijn: zanger/multi-instrumentalist Neal Morse, dummer Chester Thompson, zanger/ gitarist Phil Keaggy en bassist Byron House. Hun debuutalbum ‘Deep Water’ is grotendeels ontstaan uit jamsessies. Je hoort het Christendom in de teksten, de ene keer wat duidelijker dan de andere keer. Sommige stukken worden met veel bezieling gezongen, hier hoor je vooral Neals stem. De samen/achtergrondzang is kwalitatief goed, maar regelmatig erg zoet. In deze delen is de muziek overwegend kalm, toch zeker mooi. Daarbuiten is het instrumentaal zeer gevarieerd, zowel qua instrumenten als qua stijl. Er zijn talloze (gave) wendingen en verrassingen.
Op de recensie download verlopen niet alle overgangen tussen de delen van ‘Deep Water Suite’ (het 38 minuten durende epos) mooi. Op de cd zal dit vast foutloos zijn. ‘The Door To Heaven’ is door de opbouw echt de ‘closing-track’.
Je hoort dat hier topmuzikanten aan het werk zijn. Hoewel de stijl van Neal duidelijk aanwezig is, hebben de overige muzikanten er ook hun stempel op gedrukt. Dit levert een prima (maar soms erg zoete) melange op.
(8/10) (InsideOutMusic / Sony Music)