Hackedepicciotto are a husband and wife on an experimental musical voyage. Alexander Hacke, founding member of the industrial noise band, Einstürzende Neubauten, plays bass, guitar, and drums, but is also an adept throat singer as well as conventional vocalist. Danielle de Picciotto, also a multi-instrumentalist, plays violin and piano, aside from her arsenal of more unusual instruments, including the Hurdy Gurdy and the autoharp. The duo are based out of Germany, and are currently on tour after releasing Menetekel (2017), which translates to “the writing on the wall.” They’ll be stopping in Philly for an entrancing night at the PhilaMOCA on Tuesday, December 11th. The first thing you hear are seagulls. Trails of reverb follow their caws. Then, the continuous, gentle thumping of a stomach-churningly low bass note takes over as the seagulls fly off into the distance, far beyond earshot, as if frightened away by the bass’ thunder. By the second track, “Dreamcatcher,” as you become surrounded by a spellbinding array of organic tribal sounds, you’ll begin to really appreciate the subtleties of hackedepicciotto’s production skills: the clarity of each instrument and noisemaker combined with on-point stereo panning transport the listener to a mythical realm. The mostly instrumental album is full of drawn-out, suspenseful post-rock crescendos. Vague, mystical lines of spoken word are traded off and sometimes harmonized between Hacke and de Picciotto, but are mostly written and recited by de Picciotto. Lyrics of “The Prophecy” hypothesize the true meaning of the Garden of Eden. Although the lyrics and the melodramatic tone in which they are spoken are a bit of a hurdle for me, there is still plenty to enjoy in this album. The album is concluded by a meditative 20-minute epic of gentle folk sounds reminiscent of early-2000s Animal Collective that grows darker toward the end. If I had to categorize Menetekel, I’d call it demonic industrial post-folk. Its dark, intense soundscapes and broad sonic palette echo the work of acts like Natural Snow Buildings, Swans, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. –KYLE WEINSTEIN
HACKEDPICCIOTTO + ERIC HUBEL @ PHILAMOCA TUESDAY DEC. 11TH 8:30 PM