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Although numerous musicians have borrowed from epic fantasy, only a handful have fully embraced the mythical existence. Sure, they may embellish their album sleeves with monsters, beasts, captive women and strong fighters, but did a member ever have to retrieve a misplaced mythical horn from a snowy field in the depths of winter? Did a performer devoted hours straining their eyes in the back of a traveling vehicle, mending their own chainmail?

Living the Fantasy

Formed in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have had to face both these scenarios and additional ones as they embody their grand tales. From knightly, memorable tunes to breathtaking performances, outfit creation, music videos and record designs, they’re more than a heavy metal group as a full immersive experience.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a themed musical group,” states singer, guitarist, sword-carrier and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van travels from a full-capacity concert in Cologne to one more in another town – they are playing five gigs in the UK now. “We played two shows and were scheduled on a spooky event, where I chose at the final moment to dress up. The entire setup was super-DIY, but we had an amazing time and the atmosphere was electric. It occurred to me, ‘How about if we could have this much fun at every show?’”

Development of Castle Rat

From that point on, the ensemble – which features Pinkerton as the “Rat Queen” joined by a pestilence physician (bass player), haughty vampire (six-string player) and mysterious druid (drummer) – never turned back. The new record, the follow-up record, brings to mind of famous rock groups uniting to struggle onward through a heroic art landscape – a epic masterpiece that sets them on the verge of bigger achievements.

The Bestiary was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her fellow members. “That contributed to a more powerful album,” she says of the collaborative process. “I had difficulty at first – I often experienced a certain amount of accomplishment being a woman in music going it alone. There have been multiple instances where I’ve got off stage and an audience member will say, ‘The other members write great riffs!’ and I respond, ‘Wait – I wrote all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

As the band’s stature has grown, so has the breadth of their stage presentation. “My motto is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton laughs. At first, she had been on path for a fine art degree before pulling back at the prospect of heavy loans. “The exciting part about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to express artistic expression,” she says. “Whether it’s crafting disguises, costume design, figuring out video editing clips … it’s all stuff I don’t know how to do, but it’s exciting to figure it out as we go.”

Even though building the ensemble’s complex backstory (“Everyone’s urging me to document it because it’s all in here,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and sewing costumes wasn’t enough, the singer learned on her own how to create armor – a challenging endeavor, though she confessedly left her all-new reptilian-inspired outfit to a expert from NYC. “It’s as if actual armour,” she beams.

Fan Response and Obstacles

Regarding the fans? They loved the stage blood, toy blades and papier-mache rat skulls with as much gusto as the band. “We had a gig in the Motor City and it looked like a medieval event,” reminisces Riley fondly. “Everyone was in robes, sheepskin, chainmail.”

This isn’t to say, however, that life on the road as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been plain sailing. “Each item is constantly breaking and becomes duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Moreover I’ll have countless concepts as to how I desire the presentation, but we tour in a van with only so much space. It’s an interesting challenge to create the impression like a larger-than-life story, then pack it down into nothing.”

We faced additional practical issues that wouldn’t have troubled mythic characters. “There was an ‘uh-oh’ moment when we performed at a Portuguese festival in the European country and my baggage – which had my blade in it – got lost,” says Riley. “This became a nightmare, because we don’t have an alternative version of the performance where I am without a blade.”

Goals Ahead

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is eager about the future. “I aim to reach as far as possible – let’s do huge arenas,” she says. “The only thing that’s really important to me is maintaining the handmade style, guaranteeing everything is custom-made. That’s an element I want to keep true to, regardless of we achieve. Plus, I want to appear on a unicorn at all performances. Think about how some artists use vehicles in concerts? That, but with a unicorn.”