Lamb of God guitarist Mark Morton has responded to the cancellation of the band’s concert in Kuala Lumpur by the Malaysian government who refused a permit for the show that had already sold 1500 tickets. Lamb of God was scheduled to headline the Rockaway Festival in Malaysia before the Department of Islamic Development pushed for their performance to be disallowed, calling the band “satanic,” saying their message “fitted evil spirituality and anti-godliness.”

Clearly, Lamb of God does not agree with the assessment or the decision. Morton officially released the following statement on the matter today.

 It is very evident (and a bit frustrating) that the groups, parties and powers that have taken the most offense to our music and lyrics, have themselves only made a passing glance at the content and meanings of those songs. We would invite anyone offended by our music to engage in a discussion regarding the true motivations behind our work, especially before publicly slandering us based on assumptions and shallow misinterpretation.

We sincerely apologize to our amazing fans in Malaysia for the cancellation. Many thanks to all who have spoken out in support of us through this.

But even with the band’s history of international misfortune, the September 28th show in Malaysia is the only Lamb of God performance that has been cancelled. Shows in Thailand, Australia and New Zealand will go on as planned.