Last weekend, things were looking up for the Mayhem Cruise. The lead singer of the event’s headlining band, Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe, was finally released from jail in Prague, after being held for a month on (seemingly very bogus) manslaughter charges.

But yesterday, the Mayhem Cruise issued this statement via their website:

Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control, we have been forced to cancel the Mayhem Festival Cruise. If you purchased a cruise package, you will be automatically refunded to the credit card you used to purchase…

We are also offering anyone who purchased a cruise ticket a lifetime complimentary pass to the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival Summer Tour. You will still receive your cruise refund in addition to the lifetime pass to the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival Tour. This pass is valid on any tour date beginning in 2013. Details on getting these lifetime passes will be announced shortly.

We apologize for the cancellation.

Through their PR agency, the cruise organizers declined to comment further, and there appears to be no official or rumored reason for the cancellation published anywhere. It seems to us that the likely scenario is that with Blythe in jail, ticket sales slowed drastically. It’s hard to commit to the travel and ticket price without knowing for sure if the headlining act will be there. Blythe has expressed that he intends to return to Prague and face trail if summoned to do so. Since it is now quite clear that his legal woes could drag on for some time, the organizers of the cruise made the call to pull the plug.

Such a shame. We were greatly looking forward to this voyage and it’s sad to see Lamb of God’s career put on hold like this. The lifetime Mayhem Festival passes offered to those who booked the cruise are a good consolation though. Providing those is a very classy move, and shows the kind of respect cruise organizers have for the fans.