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While plenty of musicians have borrowed from epic fantasy, only a handful have genuinely embodied the fantasy lifestyle. Certainly, they might adorn their album covers with monsters, goblins, chained damsels and strong fighters, but has any musician ever been forced to retrieve a lost unicorn horn from a frost-covered ground in the heart of winter? Has anyone spent time straining their eyes in the back of a road transport, repairing their own metal mesh?

Embracing the Mythos

Established in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have had to face these exact challenges and more as they live out their grand tales. From medieval-inspired, catchy tunes to breathtaking live shows, attire styling, videos and album art, they’re not so much a heavy metal group as a total artistic immersion.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a themed musical group,” explains vocalist, guitar player, sword-carrier and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle speeds from a sold-out gig in a German city to a second one in another town – they’re also doing several shows in the UK now. “After a couple of performances and received an offer on a October show, where I made a last-minute decision to put on an outfit. Everything was highly handmade, but we had a blast and the atmosphere was unforgettable. I realized, ‘What if we could have so much excitement at every show?’”

Growth of the Group

From that point on, the band – which showcases Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” alongside a pestilence physician (bassist), haughty vampire (lead guitarist) and secretive shaman (drummer) – continued forward. The Bestiary, the group’s sophomore release, conjures visions of classic metal icons joining forces to fight their path through a mythical painted realm – a grand composition that places them on the edge of bigger achievements.

This album was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her collaborators. “It made it a much better album,” she says of the collaborative process. “I had difficulty at first – I often experienced a certain amount of accomplishment as a woman in music doing everything solo. There’ve been multiple instances where after a show and a person will say, ‘The band create awesome guitar parts!’ and I think, ‘Hey – I created all that.’”

Artistry and Imagination

With their growing popularity has expanded, so has the scale of their stage presentation. “My motto is always that if an effort matters, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. Initially, she was on path for a university studies in art before balking at the possibility of financial burden. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s numerous methods to apply artistry,” she says. “Be it creating face coverings, attire creation, figuring out video editing song visuals … everything is I don’t know how to do, but it’s fun to discover on the fly.”

Even though developing the band’s intricate lore (“People are encouraging me to write it down because all the ideas are,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and making clothing wasn’t enough, the singer taught herself how to craft metal mesh – a difficult task, though she confessedly left her all-new reptilian-inspired outfit to a New York-based specialist. “It’s as if actual armour,” she grins.

Fan Response and Obstacles

What about the crowd? They took to the theatrical gore, soft weapons and handmade props with equal enthusiasm as the musicians. “We played a gig in Detroit and it resembled a medieval event,” remembers Riley fondly. “The whole crowd was in robes, animal hides, chainmail.”

This isn’t to say, though, that life on the road as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been easy. “Everything is frequently damaged and ends up fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Additionally I get countless concepts as to how I desire the presentation, but we tour in a bus with restricted capacity. It’s a fascinating test to make it feel like a mythic tale, then compress it into minimal luggage.”

There have been further organizational challenges that would never have plagued fictional warriors. “There was an ‘disastrous’ moment when we played SonicBlast festival in Portugal and my luggage – which had my weapon in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “This became a worst-case scenario, because we don’t have an backup plan of the concert where I am without a sword.”

Upcoming Plans

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is eager about the future. “I aim to reach all the way – we should play stadiums,” she says. “The key element that’s deeply meaningful to me is maintaining the DIY aesthetic, making sure all elements is custom-made. That’s an element I want to stay authentic to, no matter what we achieve. Plus, I desire to appear on a magical horse each show. You know how famous musicians ride bikes on stage? That, but with a unicorn.”