Statement Of Rage Founder Peavy Wagner Clarifies Band Situation

Bassist/vocalist Peavy Wagner has issued a statement clarifying the situation with Rage and Lingua Mortis Orchestra. Just this past Wednesday a statement was issued by the band that the current lineup of Wagner, Victor Smolski and Andre Hilgers have split. For some, this was interpreted as the demise of Rage, however, Wagner insists that the band will continue with a new lineup and a new era and that Refuge (the outlet for the classic era of Rage) will continue as a separate entity.

In the statement issued today, Wagner states: "Hi Rageheads, due to rumors in the past few days, referring to the future of Rage and LMO, I would like to give some more clarity.

"My split from Victor and André does NOT implicate the end of RAGE! On the contrary, set sails again with a new Line-Up soon we. More news to follow.

"Refuge is a blessing for me and my two friends and bandmates, and wants to continue to exist. We are looking forward to the festival summer of 2015 (and beyond) Both bands, Rage and Refuge are going to be present alongside and want even complement each other. With Refuge, we are serving all the oldschool metalheads out there, whilst Rage is covering the whole musical spectrum that I have built up in the past 30 years.

"[As for] Lingua Mortis [Orchestra] (LMO), I created in the early 90's and we celebrated our first release in 1996. Equals to Rage, LMO is important part of me and I want to put in the same amount of passion and creative energy as I have done in the past.

"I promise that I will go ahead with Rage in a high musical quality. With Refuge, we will travel back to the early days and with Lingua Mortis Orchestra, I want to continue the metal meets classic part of me.

"I can't wait for what will happen in the near future, I feel freed and I am full of creative energy. In that respect I want to say THANK YOU for your trust and support."

Smolski also also issued a statement about his future and the shifting to focus to LMO a/k/a Lingua Mortis Orchestra: "Dear friends, after 15 fantastic years, 10 records and countless live shows with Rage, I have decided to focus myself on other musical challenges. I really want to thank all Rage fans, who supported me all those years. In the future, I will concentrate on the new LMO CD. The orchestra project I founded and formed in 2013 will continue with the same lineup, just without Peavy. New musicians, giving this creative band new input, but also a new name will be revealed soon. Composing and producing the last record was so much fun to me and I want to thank everyone who supported me doing this. With all the experience from the shows with LMO, I’m quite sure the new album will be even more exciting. Expect the unexpected!”