UNLOCKING THE TRUTH Partners With ARTERY RECORDINGS

UNLOCKING THE TRUTH — the heavy metal band from Flatbush, Brooklyn made up of three African American boys, 13-year-old guitarist Malcolm Brickhouse, 13-year-old bassist Alec Atkins and 12-year-old drummer Jarad Dawkins — is signed to The Cherry Party/Sony Music and The Cherry Party is teaming up with Artery Recordings on the marketing and promotions efforts. It's an organic partnership as some of the band's contemporary favorite metal bands are on the Artery roster and Artery has long championed UNLOCKING THE TRUTH.

UNLOCKING THE TRUTH, which is now managed by "Welcome Back, Kotter" co-creator Alan Sacks, began attracting attention with its street performances in both Times Square and Washington Square Park in New York City. They even booked a gig at Coachella earlier this year, and were the youngest group to perform.

The band was invited by METALLICA to perform at the Heavy Metal Montreal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on August 9 and enjoyed a slot on the Vans Warped Tour this summer.

UNLOCKING THE TRUTH has also shared stages with GUNS N' ROSES, MÖTORHEAD, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, LIVING COLOUR and more. They also performed at the AfroPunk Festival.

Although it's clear from their performances that they're veritable metalheads, their performances have been praised from artists across all genres from country superstar Keith Urban, who praised them for playing their own instruments, to rap icon Diddy, who called them "revolutionaries" in a tweet, celebrating the fact that they are "using their art to fight back and stand up." Additionally, Hayley Williams, singer for PARAMORE, tweeted her support, writing: "Anybody who says the future of music is doomed hasn't seen this #unlockingthetruth #deathtoallbutmetal.

UNLOCKING THE TRUTH entered the studio last month to record its first single, "Monster", for The Cherry Party.

As part of its guaranteed two-album deal with Sony, UNLOCKING THE TRUTH will receive $60,000 to record the first disc and possibly as much as $325,000 for the second CD. Sony has an option to release a total of five albums from UNLOCKING THE TRUTH that could push the label's financial investment to around $1.7 million ($325,000 for the second album, $400,000 for the third, $450,000 for the fourth and $550,000 for the fifth). It should be noted, however, that the band will only see the real money after an initial $60,000 advance if their debut album sells more than 250,000 copies, a prospect that seems highly unlikely in an age of diminishing record sales.

An UNLOCKING THE TRUTH book about the band's rise to success will be released by Penguin around Christmas, and a documentary about the group's experiences is also in the works.

UNLOCKING THE TRUTH credits bands such as METALLICA, SLIPKNOT, DISTURBED, CHELSEA GRIN, MOTIONLESS IN WHITE and ESCAPE THE FATE as its influences.