Self-proclaimed Bangkok Evilcore titans Whispers are bringing us a new slab of the most moshable metallic hardcore to close out 2024.
Formed in 2014 & with a slew of tours all over the globe, Whispers are bringing their style of hardcore to the modern underground, Mixing metallic styles of All Out War & Merauder blended with the punishment of death metal pioneers Bolt Thrower & Obituary.
Opening the EP as a huge balls-out intro, “Bangkok Evilcore” perfectly encapsulates what Whispers are all out. Eerie reverb-soaked, clean guitar draws you in before the bang unleashes into a two-step swagger that brings the energy quick & fast.
The following track, “A Choice To Survive”, featuring Speed’s Jem Siow, is a straight-up banger & great showcase of the talent Whispers has. A great mid-paced chugging section in the verse while vocalist Kitti “Ole” Suwan’s venom-soaked screaming sets the tone loud & clear. The track builds to our first breakdown section of the album.
Switching this up, they keep a fast pace with great double kick drum work by Piyawut “Es” Thongprakob—a great tease for later when the Siows guest feature drops. A sludgy breakdown with a bulldozer-like attitude gets the pulse racing early doors.
One of the EPs’s single, “Retribution”, is an audio warzone in all the best ways. This track plays with tempos & somehow gets heavier & heavier as it goes along. It’s first hard; it reels you in with the great open bar chord rings & two-step drum beat. Get the headbanging along to the track; then they sprinkle in the chugs as Suwan cries the song’s title, Three Head Demon. As we reach Suwan ‘s delivery of “eye for an eye”, we can feel something brewing & it’s a hard-as-nails breakdown section that just builds & builds until the last quarter of the track. It is just a superb classic era All Out War style closing. Chefs kiss this one, boys.
Keeping the intensity high, “This Is Not The End” is a more upbeat track that grabs you & doesn’t let go in the slightest. A great mid-tempo stomp in its verse sections gets you wanting to move out of your chair.
Feeling like a tornado, the track doesn’t let off at all. Slowly building its power. The track showcases the phenomenal library of riffs guitarists Weerayuth ”Neung” Klibpratum & Tanin “Get” Meemongkol have in their arsenal. Metallic hardcore can sometimes become stale very quickly, but these boys have been able to keep every riff interesting & very quickly memorable.
As the end draws near, the title track, “Yom-Ma-Lok”, really builds its atmosphere. Feeling like a nice bookend to the album’s intro, the first half of the track is this gorgeous but frightening clean guitar section that has you on your toes. As the band builds, they unload all of their pain & anguish into this last track. Featuring the legend that is Stephen Bessac of Kickback on vocals, this track is moody dark & closes the EP off nicely, keeping within the style & themes the band has created throughout.
Whispers are a very special band. Bangkok might not be on many under the underground’s radar, but its hardcore & metal scene is so expansive but also close-knit with a handful of some of the best unsung bands. And Whispers fall under that banner. Their few releases so far have been fantastic, but “Yom-Ma-Lok” is a great step up & evolution of the group, who have written some of their most heavy, chaotic & punishing music to date. Long live Bangkok Evilcore!
Review: Joseph Mitchell
Yom-Ma-Lok is available for preorder now through Flatspot Records.
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