reviews / 2025

BROM - Black Head

Name: BROM – Black Head
Item: Black Head
Rating: 8
Author: Valerio D'Onofrio

2025 (Self-released)

no-jazz, thrash-jazz

by Valerio D'Onofrio

Brom are a Moscow-based avant-garde jazz collective, among the most extreme currently active in Russia, as shown by the numerous enthusiastic reviews that have appeared on both local and international webzines. Their new LP "Black Head" is a violent, twisted work that pushes the language of jazz to the very edges of math-rock: the post-punk bass is aggressive and in-your-face, while the compositions swing continuously between avant-prog, noise explosions and furious free-jazz drifts, with Ivan Bursov's tenor sax towering over a chaos permanently on the verge of collapse.

"Макароны" ("Pasta") seems to conjure up the atmosphere of Italian poliziotteschi crime thrillers, while "Сон милиционера" ("A Policeman's Dream") is a superbly realized piece of chaotic, ferocious improvisation. Every track is a thrilling listening experience, even - and especially - in its most brutal passages, like the devastating finale of the third piece.

The band describes itself as no jazz, a nod to no wave, but looking at the cover art - and, above all, letting the music sweep you away - the idea of thrash jazz seems a far more fitting description.

Ride the wave of great music

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18/01/2026

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This article is an English translation of the original Italian text by Valerio D'Onofrio, published on OndaRock.it. It was translated with the help of artificial intelligence, under the editorial responsibility of OndaRock's editor-in-chief, Claudio Fabretti.

Read the original in Italian · About the English edition