UPDATE: Earlier this week, Nuclear Blast Records announced the end of Rage and later changed it to "end of the current line-up of Rage" leaving a bit of doubt in the air about what was happening after all. Now, the bassist/vocalist Peter "Peavy" Wagner has clarified the band situation and confirms that the band is not over, that it's just the end of an era. He says Rage will continue with a new line-up and that you can expect more news about that soon.

Here is the statement Peter "Peavy" Wagner released today on his Facebook page: "Hi Rageheads, due to misleading 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, soon we will set sails again with a new line-up. More news to follow. Refuge is a blessing for me and my two friends and bandmates, and will 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 will 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. Lingua Mortis (LMO) I created in the early 90's and we celebrated our first release in 1996. Equals to Rage, LMO is an important part of me and I will 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 will 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. See you soon. Yours Peavy."

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Original news, published on 04.02.2015: Having just celebrated their 30th band anniversary and the release of their exclusive song collection The Soundchaser Archives in 2014, the German heavy metal pioneers Rage now announce the end of the band. Peavy and Victor decided to stop working together in the future due to musical and personal changes. Victor Smolski will focus now on Lingua Mortis Orchestra but without Peavy and under a different name. It's the end of Rage.

Guitarist Victor Smolski and bassist/vocalist Peter "Peavy" Wagner published the following statement: "Hi Rageheads, urgent Rage news: after thinking it over carefully, Peavy and Victor decided to stop working together in the future. This is due to musical and personal changes."

"We have developed in different directions in the last years, that much, that we cannot identify with the current band situation anymore. In this situation we will also part from drummer Andre Hilgers. The last 15 years were blessed with many highlights and great releases but this era is over now. Every extension would be untrue to ourselves and to our fans. We wish each other all the best! Thanx to all the fans for your trust and support!"

And Victor Smolski added: "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!"

Source:	facebook.com
Band profile:	Rage