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Reviews

Spontaneous Rex — Cataclysm
(Bandcamp no#, 2026, DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2026-10-26

Cataclysm Cover art

It seems like forever since I first encountered Spontaneous Rex at Seaprog 2014 and followed up with a review of the band’s first album Come at the King. In fact, twelve years is pretty close to forever in terms of consecutive releases by any band — I have seen longer delays, to be sure, but the album at hand, Cataclysm, is only their second full length release. I was both happy and sad when I first received the promo — happy that there was finally more music from the band, though a little sad because keyboardist and bandleader Jake Sele told me this would be their final album as a band. One can only hope that from great musicians will spring more great music in some other form. Of the original 2014 quartet, only Sele and guitarist Matt Williams remain, adding bassist Tim Carey and drummer Kyle Doran since 2019’s The Early Adventures of Pro Fresh (a single track that was only available as a download from their Bandcamp site), a final and superior version of a four part “Pro Fresh Suite” is included on Cataclysm. No singing anywhere here, this is instrumental heaven. The band’s sound straddles the multiple genres of progressive rock, jazz, 70s-styled jazz-rock fusion, electronic improvisation, and even a bit of classical mixed in with it all, in a mind-boggling original stew of fresh ideas that all fuse freely together. The set opens with a fresh take on Herbie Hancock’s “Cantaloupe Island,” with Williams laying down some badass snarly lead guitar work, and Sele following it with some electric piano brilliance, all the while Carey and Doran proving their worth as a top notch rhythm section. Some blues, jazz, country, and classical all fuse together beautifully in the opening minutes of “Ten Miles in Any Direction” as the piece gradually takes shape with an injection of progressive rock. So far nothing could prepare the listener for the slow-growing expansive suite “Balto,” an immersive mix of jazz, fusion, and progressive rock styles clocking in at just over eleven minutes, a truly ambitious epic that is rightfully the album’s centerpiece. “The Whole, or Large or Small” is an improvisation for guitar-based electronics and keyboards that leads directly into “Eilodon,” a nine-minute piece reworked from the band’s first album, taking the listener on a journey through myriad labyrinths and cavernous dreamworlds. The album could have ended here and it would have still been quite worthwhile, but they chose to make “Pro Fresh” into a four part suite, part one opening with a short group improvisation, the original “Early Adventures” becoming the second part, a hard-funky-fusion extravaganza that’ll take you right back to the world of RTF, Mahavishnu, and other pioneers of the genre. Part three is another wild electronic improvization, while part four ties everything up nicely with more great fusion, a bit of a Spanish feel thrown into the mixer this time along with the electronics and improvisation. All taken, Cataclysm is a powerful closing statement from Spontaneous Rex.

Filed under: New releases, 2026 releases

Related artist(s): Spontaneous Rex

More info
http://spontaneousrex.bandcamp.com/album/cataclysm

 

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