Vakker – What Will Become of Our Pain (Review)

This is the debut album from US black metal band Vakker.

I only encountered What Will Become of Our Pain due to a random social media recommendation, and I’m very glad I did. Vakker play atmospheric black metal, only with the sort of horrific, monstrous vocals that you wouldn’t normally associate with the style.

Let’s talk vocals first then, because why not. They’re striking, and likely an acquired taste. My instinct was initially to dislike the singer’s voice, but then it grew on me like a cancer, and now I can’t get the damn thing out of my head. IT HAUNTS MY DREAMS. Ahem. The vocals are dark, malevolent, and hurt the soul. They’re like the agonised groans of a tortured spirit, delivered in the sort of growl that’s likely never actually originated from a human at all. It’s unsettling. If I had to make a comparison for descriptive purposes, I’d say the closest is probably something like the vocals of Portal, alongside something like a possessed version of the singer of Abyssal. Maybe.

Stylistically, What Will Become of Our Pain exists in atmospheric black metal territory, but not 100% exclusively. It’s sorrowful, mournful, and imbued with rich emotive weight. In this way it draws aspects into itself from depressive black metal, doom, and blackgaze, as well as benefiting from second wave bite. Influence from the Cascadian style can be heard too, mixing with everything else into an intoxicating brew of potent negative energy.

The music is well-crafted, with an atmospheric flow that’s easily slipped into. The daemonic vocals somehow manage to not fit the the music at all, while simultaneously being the absolute perfect fit for it, allowing it to ascend to a level of malignant Hellscape that would otherwise be denied to it. It’s an unusual, unearthly mix, that probably shouldn’t work, yet resolutely does. This helps Vakker differentiate themselves from the blackened hordes; if they had used a more traditional screamed style of vocals they would still undoubtedly be a great band, (and likely preferred by some), but as they are there’s an edge to their personality that’s largely Vakker’s alone.

This is not to lessen the power or impact of the music though, nor to imply that the vocals overshadow everything. It’s the opposite in fact – the atypical vocals work so well because of the strength of the underlying songwriting. Vakker seem to have poured everything they have into What Will Become of Our Pain, and the results are impressive. Each of the four songs is an exemplar of comprehensive worldbuilding and blackened expression, and all have their individual strengths.

Also, you can even hear the bass, and it actually has a contribution of its own to make in its own right. This is unusual for any band, never mind a black metal one.

I love random, (fated?), finds like this. What Will Become of Our Pain is an album likely to disappear into the deep underground without a trace, known and appreciated only by the select knowing few. Let’s help to bring awareness of Vakker’s imposing presence to as many people as possible, in the hopes that some hear the siren call and heed its dark tidings.

Essential listening.