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Although plenty of musicians have borrowed from high fantasy, rarely any have fully embraced the mythical lifestyle. Admittedly, they might adorn their record jackets with ghouls, imps, manacled maidens and brawny barbarians, but has any musician ever needed to find a missing unicorn horn from a snowy field in the midst of winter? Did a performer devoted hours squinting in the back of a traveling vehicle, repairing their own armor?

Immersed in the Legend

Created in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have encountered both these scenarios and more as they embody their grand tales. Starting with knightly, earworm-heavy songs to breathtaking live shows, attire styling, videos and cover artwork, they’re not so much a heavy metal group as a complete sensory journey.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a themed musical group,” says vocalist, guitar player, sword-carrier and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport travels 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 currently. “After a couple of performances and were scheduled on a spooky event, where I decided spontaneously to put on an outfit. It was all super-DIY, but we had so much fun and the energy was unforgettable. It occurred to me, ‘How about if we could have so much excitement at every show?’”

Development of Castle Rat

From that point on, the group – which showcases Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” joined by a plague doctor (bassist), haughty vampire (lead guitarist) and mysterious druid (percussionist) – continued forward. Their latest album, the band’s second album, brings to mind of legendary heavy bands uniting to fight their path through a Frank Frazetta fantasy world – a grand composition that places them on the edge of bigger achievements.

The Bestiary was a first for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her fellow members. “This helped a more powerful album,” she says of the group work. “I had difficulty at first – I often experienced a particular degree of satisfaction being a woman in music working independently. I’ve had so many times where after a show and an audience member will say, ‘Those guys compose cool melodies!’ and I respond, ‘Listen – I created all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

With their growing popularity has increased, so has the breadth of their stage presentation. “My philosophy is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton laughs. Initially, she was on course for a fine art degree before pulling back at the possibility of heavy loans. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to express artistry,” she says. “Be it creating face coverings, costume design, learning how to edit clips … it’s all stuff I am unfamiliar with, but it’s exciting to figure it out on the fly.”

Even though creating the band’s intricate lore (“The team is pushing me to write it down because all the ideas are,” Riley says, indicating her head) and sewing costumes were insufficient, the vocalist self-educated how to craft metal mesh – no mean feat, though she admittedly entrusted her brand-new scale armor design to a New York-based specialist. “It feels like actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Fan Response and Obstacles

What about the crowd? They embraced the theatrical gore, soft weapons and papier-mache rat skulls with as much gusto as the musicians. “We played a show in the Motor City and it looked like a medieval event,” reminisces Riley fondly. “The whole crowd was in robes, animal hides, armor.”

However, this doesn’t mean, however, that life on the road as mythical wanderers has been smooth. “Each item is frequently damaged and gets fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Additionally I come up with endless ideas as to how I want things to look, but we tour in a vehicle with limited room. It’s a fascinating test to create the impression like a mythic tale, then store it into nothing.”

There have been further organizational challenges that would never have plagued fictional warriors. “We experienced an ‘disastrous’ moment when we played a music event in Portugal and my suitcase – which had my weapon in it – got lost,” says Riley. “That was a nightmare, because there is no an different option of the show where I am without a weapon.”

Goals Ahead

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is gung-ho about the days to come. “My goal is all the way – I dream of huge arenas,” she says. “The key element that’s deeply meaningful to me is maintaining the handmade style, guaranteeing each detail is custom-made. This is a feature I want to stay authentic to, no matter what we grow into. Additionally, I desire to make an entrance on a magical horse every night. Think about how some artists ride bikes on stage? The same idea, but on a mythical creature.”