The phrase "an often brutal" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe something that frequently exhibits brutality or harshness, often in a context discussing experiences, events, or conditions.
Example: "The documentary revealed an often brutal reality of life in war-torn regions."
Alternatives: "frequently harsh" or "commonly violent".
They see Indian troops in Kashmir as an often brutal occupying force.
It is the peaceful "land of smiles", yet ruled by an often brutal military regime.
They come because they know this crowd of locals, after-workers, fellow comics and fans is respectful, appreciative and understanding — a safe harbor in an often brutal business.
Abdullah and his ministers tend to skip over their dependence on an often brutal secret police, their control of the press, their infiltration of the Islamist political groups.
Mr. Carlisle described the project as essential to the economic transformation of the area, saying it would lead to more development on this part of the island and also rescue commuters from an often brutal drive.
Since seizing power in a coup, in 2013, Sisi has overseen an often brutal crackdown on civil liberties and human rights that critics have compared to the worst abuses of the Mubarak era.
A reviewer at The Times called the play "an exciting, often brutal tale of survival" and said that "even when it's a muddle, it's a glorious one".
Amy Schumer's sharp, occasionally hilarious, brand of comedy is reliant on a number of constants, one of the most defining of which is a frank, often brutal discussion of how she's physically compared with other women.
I can't vouch for all of these selections, though I urge you to catch — whether now or when it opens later this year — Jacques Nolot's "Before I Forget," a fierce, often brutal, often touching exploration of sex, love and the humiliations of the body.
It's a harrowing, often brutal tale that pulls few punches when it comes to the cruelty slaves endured, to the point that some may feel director Steve McQueen went too far in unflinchingly depicting slaves' torture and suffering, which obviously pales in comparison to what slaves actually went through.
Describing a farmers' uprising in a provincial town in the final days of the Weimar Republic, it offers a frank and often brutal depiction of a society tipping over into chaos, methodically investigating each plank in the structure of social control and finding them all rotten.
