UMUR "Cursed Lands" is an EP release by Swedish death metal act Decollation. The EP was released through Listenable Records in 1992. Decollation was a very shortlived act and "Cursed Lands" is both their official debut release and their only release. The band features among others the famous graphic artist Kristian Wåhlin (Necrolord) in the lineup (playing drums), who on this release goes under the name Chris Steele. All members for some reason worked under English pseudonyms on this EP.

While I wrote above that Decollation are a death metal act, it´s actually not entirely true, as the music on the 4 track, 25:57 minutes long album, features raw barking thrash metal type vocals with only sparse use of growling, and the music itself can also only partially be tagged death metal. "Cursed Lands" is actually quite a diverse and at times progressive extreme metal release. A feeling that is further enhanced by the prominent use of keyboards, which wasn´t an everyday feature on death metal releases from that time. The tracks typically feature many different sections and tempo changes.

"Cursed Lands" was recorded at the Sunlight Studios and produced by Tomas Skogsberg and Decollation, and the music definitely features that buzzing Sunlight guitar tone, but it´s one of the weakest sound productions I´ve heard come out of the Sunlight Studios. The instruments are disjointed in the mix, the vocals lack power, and the whole thing sounds messy and powerless. At to that the fact that the tracks aren´t that well put together and that they aren´t that memorable either, and "Cursed Lands", although it´s quite experimental for the time, which deserves some praise, is bound to be a footnote in the history of death metal. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.