Just last week, a few days ahead of their scheduled show in Beirut, Sepultura learned that their concert had been canceled by Lebanon's General Security Office. The band members were denied Visas for entry, with officials citing that the Brazilian rockers were "devil worshippers" who intended to "insult Christianity." The group has now issued a statement on the matter, along with an invite to their Lebanese fans to catch the stream of an upcoming show.

In their statement below, the band reveals that they feel as "deep dissatisfaction" in how things were handled, especially given that the denial was made on "a false interpretation of our purposes and values." Read their full statement on the matter below, and learn how they intend to appease upset fans in the country after the cancellation.

On behalf of Sepultura and staff, we would like to express to our public in Beirut our deep dissatisfaction with the situation to which we were submitted by the general security office which resulted in the cancellation of our show that would take place yesterday (Sunday, April 28th) at The Palace.
In 35 years of history, it was the first time we had our entry blocked in a country by a false interpretation of our purposes and values since our intention has always been to promote unity and freedom of expression through music, without making any political, racial or religious distinction.
To try to compensate everyone who, like us, are frustrated with what happened, we would like to invite you to watch the live broadcast of our upcoming Dubai concert on May 2 in honor of all Sepultura Lebanese fans who could not watch us in person.
LIVE STREAMING INFORMATION
LINK: http://youtube.com/sepultura
DAY: May 2, 2019
TIME: Lebanon - 22:00, Europe - 21:00, Brasil - 16:00, USA 3:00pm (ET)
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We’d like to thank Skull Session, Sepulnation around the world, all media that has published anything related to this subject, and Embassy of Brazil in Beirut for all the support.
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Andreas, Paulo, Derrick, Eloy and the Sepultura team

Concert promoters Skull Session stated, "We are as outraged and angry as all of you will be," later adding to The New Arab, "Basically what we learned is that they are considered devil worshipers, that they have disrespected Christianity, and that they have performed in Israel, all of which are of course not true."

The veteran band still has a number of dates on this tour leg, playing in Instanbul, Turkey tomorrow (April 30) before finishing out at the Hard Rock Cafe in Dubai this Thursday (May 2). Also look for additional festival appearances coming this summer and fall. See all their dates here.

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