Norway's THEATRE OF TRAGEDY has issued the following statement:

"After nearly 17 years in existence, Theatre of Tragedy has decided to call it a day and close down.

This has not been an easy decision to make and we have thought about this for a long, long time. We finally agreed to this during the production of our latest album, Forever Is The World.

Theatre of Tragedy will come to an end on October 2nd 2010, exactly 17 years after we started making music together.

Over the years all of us have strived to combine the Theatre with everyday life but in the end it has proven more and more difficult. We have come to appreciate our family lives and jobs, which makes it very hard to continue this life of rock'n'roll on the road.

We know that some of you will probably be very disappointed, but we also hope you will continue to listen to our music, which all of you learned to appreciate and love so much.

We want to thank everyone of you for all your support over the past 17 years! Theatre of Tragedy wouldn't have been possible without you!

Be sure to catch us on the last Theatre of Tragedy shows ever this year! The final gig will take place on October 2nd in Stavanger, where it all began.

Our music will live on... and forever is the world."