Big story throughout the metalverse at the moment is that a young metal band from New York, Unlocking the Truth, has signed a record deal with $1.7 million on a two album deal.

The New York Post originally reported the story citing that the 3-piece band from Brooklyn, all between the ages of 13-14, has been granted a record deal from Sony for a sum of nearly $2 million. First of all congratulations to the band, it is difficult to get a record deal with such a heavyweight label as a metal band let alone at that age – but second of all, the advance figure reported seems a bit inflated. Let’s look at the history behind the deal.

Unlocking the Truth became a bit of a viral phenomenon when video footage surfaced of them rocking a club, and then playing some Chelsea Grin breakdowns on the streets of Brooklyn. The footage lead them to being invited to open for bands such as Living Color, and then playing a few dates on the Vans Warped tour as well as the massive Coachella festival. The buzz prompted a referral to a new manager…and then a new deal.

With such a viral buzz a larger advance would actually seem more appropriate looking at the modern day economics of record labels. Looking at their deal, offered by Sony Records, it’s still another case of metal band being screwed by label. Metal Injection broke down the deal with these key points:

– The band will only get a $60,000 advance considering that the band sells more than 250,000 records (!)
– The band will get a $350,000 advance for the second album if it is successful
– The band will get royalties for the records if they sell in excess of 250,000 records
– The band could indeed net $1.7 million, but given the general factors of a record deal this is unlikely

There is a lot of cynicism spreading around the internet about this deal. There is just reason as well, considering we see more reports than we would like to about record labels screwing artists and not even bothering to pay artists their due royalties. Trivium’s Matt Heafy being a memorable case where he tweeted his royalty cheque of just over $1.

However what we have here is a A&R marketing gold mine, and I have no doubt this band will be a success. It is a metal success story from the streets of Brooklyn, a predominately hip-hop / R&B geared neighbourhood, it’s a group of kids that have mastered their instruments and there has been so much viral buzz about them it’s quite hard not seeing these kids hitting their targets. It is a luxury barely afforded to most rising metal bands on the planet.

We wish Unlocking the Truth the best on their ventures. We will certainly be listening out for their debut.