Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
Vocalist/bassist/organist Rev. Ed Broms goes full circle. After 20 years performing with Cecil Taylor, John Zorn, Mat Maneri, Eddie Kirkland, Bulgarian dance bands, not to mention something called a two year spirit quest, the good Rev. comes back to where he
started: Rock. Recorded at New Alliance Studios, produced by Mudrock, featuring Jordan Cohen (Powerman 5000) on drums, Crick Diefendorf (New
Orleans-style jazz band Made in the Shade), guest guitarist Paul Mascott (composer of the musical Drop), and live drummer Captain Rock (aka Todd
Perlmutter - Blue Man Group, Jocobono, Orangutang), Broms is a veritable who's fuckin' who. Funny thing is, this nine-song, 45-minute debut
sounds a lot like grunge rock. That said, if you can get past the foul taste of over-commercialized Gap commercials the genre became, perhaps you'll remember when the music moved your soul. Some of it, at least. There was passion and integrity ground into the sounds created by some of those unwashed musicians. It wasn't about chicks and money and cars
(well, maybe, but not first and foremost), it was about singing stoner poetry /lyrics that were either insightful or oblique nonsense, and jammin' like the '70s never gave way to under-sexed, hairspray-abusing posterfags in neon long johns. It was 'cause playing shows got ya free dope, and if the big money started rolling in, you were gonna pay all the people back that'd been payin' your rent all this time, and, man,
get the biggest bag anyone had ever seen. So yeah, Broms is talented as hell, yet aren't so fuckin' wanky that they feel the need to show you.
They groove, they rock, they stumble, they croon, they emote, they make your buzzin' head sway from side to side. - Scott Hefflon
Ed Broms is a singer/songwriter out of the Greater Boston area. He goes
by the name Reverend Ed Broms (I'm assuming that means Reverend, like
the Reverend Horton Heat?) The music is not similar to the Rev HH, but
the name is unnecessary either way. Revend? Please. Anyways, the music,
vocals, songwriting, and playing on this album is probably the best I've
heard from the New England area of all the independant artists out
there. I'm not too hip on the band name or the Reverend title, but the
rest of the album and band is as close to perfection as you can get. The
production is amazing and and the guitar playing especially is
top-notch. The sound of the album is hard rock with a bluesy feel (think
Zack Wylde, Blue Murder, with a touch of Creedance). I would like to see
these guys live, because this album is pretty amazing. - Louis Tanguay
Discography
BROMS - re-release 12/01
Evil Heart - single - release 11/01
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
BROMS is the rock band founded by bassist/vocalist/organist and composer
Ed Broms, after 20+ years of exploring every frontier of music. These
explorations have taken him from performances with the likes of
avant-gardists Cecil Taylor, John Zorn and Mat Maneri to blues legend
Eddie Kirkland to Bulgarian dance bands to the concert stages and
cathedrals of America, and of course, stints with all manner and variety
of rock bands. After developing a distinctive voice in many different
styles of music, and taking a five year spirit-quest in which he was
ordained a Vedantan Priest, he decided to focus his efforts on the most
powerful music he could find: ROCK.
The debut self-titled CD from BROMS, was recorded at New Alliance
Studios in Boston, MA in 1998 and features equally accomplished
personnel: drummer Jordan Cohen (former percussionist with POWERMAN 5000
), guitarist Crick Diefendorf (with New Orleans-styled jazz band Made in
the Shade), with guest guitarist Paul Mascott (composer of the musical
DROP), and Producer Mudrock (POWERMAN5000/DREAMWORKS; GODSMACK/UNIVERSAL
).
The name BROMS, taken from the Swedish word for horse fly, the kind with
a nasty bite, fits the music appropriately. The music hits you with
hellfire and brimstone and Satyagraha: the force of Truth.
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