The eighth-grade metal trio Unlocking the Truth stopped by The Colbert Report last night (Sept. 17) and showed the world why Sony signed them to a $1.8 million contract this summer.
Host Stephen Colbert introduced the band and after finding out their ages – frontman Malcolm Brickhouse and bassist Alec Atkins are 13, drummer Jarad Dawkins is 12 – he got into the band's origins. The trio has been together since they were seven and got discovered by performing in the streets around Times Square.
The band, whose EP Free As You Wanna Be is out this fall, and Colbert joked a bit before the host came in with a hard-hitting question: What does the band name mean? Atkins declined saying "If I explain it, it's going to take a whole day." So Brickhouse decided to give it a shot. "We're unlocking the truth about life," the singer said, "and that you could do whatever you wanna do. Kids think that they can't do anything 'cause that's what other people tell you to do, but if you look past that and just believe in yourself, you can accomplish anything you wanna do."
With the performance of "Monster" (see below), the boys proved that age doesn't matter in metal (their chops have gotten them opening gigs with the likes of Guns N' Roses and Motorhead). On his Slayer guitar, Brickhouse executed a brief, but impressive solo. These kids have potential to do some serious damage within the genre by the time they hit their 20s.
The band's record deal with Sony for five albums had to be approved by the New York Supreme Court in July because of the band members' ages. They also accepted offers for a documentary and book deal.
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