Legendary New Orleans sludge kings EYEHATEGOD have issued the following statement:

"[EYEHATEGOD frontman] Mike Williams has been arrested, and is being held in Morgan City Jail, about an hour west of New Orleans. We won't elaborate on the details as a precautionary measure; if you'd like to know, write him (info below). he was on probation at the time of his arrest, so having a cop breathe in his general direction was a threat to his freedom.

"As of [mid-September], Mike was in good spirits. Jimmy [Bower; EYEHATEGOD/SUPERJOINT RITUAL guitarist, DOWN drummer] was able to visit with him, and said he looked healthy, and most importantly, has a positive outlook and good sense of humor with regards to his situation. He did say they had no TV, so drop him a line; show your support when it counts the most. No magazines, CDs, stickers, etc... just letters. Keep in mind that his letters are screened, and this a small, Christian town (this is a major understatement). Please do not write anything that may affect his treatment as an inmate. We wanna keep his only connection to everyone wide open.

"We will be releasing a two-CD set in order to raise money for his defense. One will be our set from Tokyo (three songs from this are featured on 'Preaching...'), and the other from our last tour. Both recordings sound great. We will release this on the band's 'label,' Press Pause Media/Cassettes, so that ALL of the money, excluding pressing costs, will go toward Mike's defense. Any help with distro, advertising would be greatly appreciated as we barely have enough $$$ to press this. We will try to have this out within a month. Contact Gary (ghawg@bellsouth.net) for anything related to this release. Seriously, your help will make a difference."

Mike Williams' contact address:

Morgan City Jail
ATTN: Mike D. Williams (inmate)
P.O. Box 1670
Morgan City, LA 70380
USA