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The Hazards of Love
Rock · 2009 · 17 tracks · 58m

The Hazards of Love

The Decemberists

A sprawling folk-metal opera set in a dark, mythological forest. Heavy riffs meet delicate harpsichords in a tragic tale of shape-shifters and vengeful queens.

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It's a dark forest fairy tale told through 70s prog-rock riffs and haunting folk harmonies.

A relentless, dramatic descent into a dark mythological tragedy that balances crushing heaviness with fragile beauty.

The Hazards of Love · vs · The Decemberists
Forest+4.0σ

Forest saturates this record far more than the artist's norm.

Tracklist · 17 Tracks · 58m
01
Prelude
3:04
02
The Hazards of Love 1 (The Prettiest Whistles Won’t Wrestle the Thistles Undone)
4:19
03
A Bower Scene
2:09
04
Won’t Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga)
4:07
05
The Hazards of Love 2 (Wager All)
4:25
06
The Queen’s Approach
0:29
07
Isn’t It a Lovely Night?
3:39
08
The Wanting Comes in Waves / Repaid
6:26
09
An Interlude
1:40
10
The Rake’s Song
3:16
11
The Abduction of Margaret
2:07
12
The Queen’s Rebuke / The Crossing
3:56
13
Annan Water
5:11
14
Margaret in Captivity
3:08
15
The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!)
3:22
16
The Wanting Comes in Waves (reprise)
1:31
17
The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)
5:57
Moments Worth Waiting For
The sudden transition from delicate acoustic fingerpicking to the crushing, Sabbath-esque riff of The Wanting Comes in Waves.
Shara Nova's terrifyingly powerful vocal entrance as the Forest Queen, cutting through the mix with operatic authority.
The way the river sound effects and choral harmonies swell during the final tragic resolution of The Drowned.
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