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While many musicians have drawn from high fantasy, few have truly lived the fantasy lifestyle. Admittedly, they might decorate their album sleeves with creatures, goblins, chained damsels and brawny barbarians, but has an artist ever needed to find a misplaced unicorn horn from a frost-covered ground in the depths of winter? Did a guitarist spent time straining their eyes in the back of a traveling vehicle, repairing their own armor?

Embracing the Mythos

Established in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have dealt with these exact challenges and additional ones as they embody their epic fantasies. Starting with knightly, memorable tunes to stunning live shows, attire styling, videos and cover artwork, they’re not just a heavy metal group as a complete sensory journey.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a themed musical group,” states vocalist, guitar player, blade-handler and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport travels from a packed show in Cologne to another in another town – they have five gigs in the UK now. “Initially, we performed twice and got booked on a spooky event, where I chose at the final moment to dress up. Everything was highly handmade, but we had a blast and the feeling in the room was electric. I thought, ‘How about if we could have this much fun every time?’”

Development of Castle Rat

After that, the band – which features Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” joined by a pestilence physician (bassist), aristocratic undead (lead guitarist) and enigmatic nature priest (rhythm keeper) – haven’t looked back. The Bestiary, the follow-up record, brings to mind of classic metal icons uniting to struggle onward through a heroic art landscape – a epic masterpiece that sets them on the brink of bigger achievements.

This album was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her fellow members. “This helped a much better record,” she says of the group work. “It was challenging at first – I’d always felt a specific level of satisfaction as a woman in music going it alone. There have been so many times where I finished performing and a person will say, ‘Those guys create awesome guitar parts!’ and I think, ‘Hey – I created all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

With their growing popularity has increased, so has the scale of their stage presentation. “My philosophy is always that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. At first, she had been on track for a art school education before hesitating at the possibility of financial burden. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to demonstrate artistic expression,” she says. “Be it making masks, costume design, figuring out video editing song visuals … these are all things I don’t know how to do, but it’s exciting to learn as we go.”

As if building the ensemble’s complex backstory (“People are encouraging me to write it down because everything is stored,” Riley says, indicating her head) and making clothing wasn’t enough, the vocalist taught herself how to make chainmail – a challenging endeavor, though she admittedly left her completely original reptilian-inspired outfit to a New York-based specialist. “It feels like actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

What about the crowd? They took to the fake blood, foam swords and papier-mache rat skulls with similar excitement as the band. “We performed a gig in the Motor City and it resembled a medieval event,” recalls Riley happily. “All attendees was in capes, animal hides, armor.”

That’s not to imply, nevertheless, that touring existence as fantasy adventurers has been easy. “Everything is constantly breaking and gets repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Additionally I’ll have countless concepts as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we tour in a bus with limited room. It’s an interesting challenge to give the sense like a mythic tale, then pack it down into a small space.”

There have been other logistical problems that didn’t affect legendary fantasy heroes. “We did have an ‘disastrous’ moment when we played a Portuguese festival in Portugal and my baggage – which had my sword in it – got lost,” says Riley. “It was a worst-case scenario, because there is no an different option of the concert where I am without a sword.”

Goals Ahead

As a genuine leader, Riley is eager about the future. “I aim to reach all the way – I dream of stadiums,” she says. “The main aspect that’s truly essential to me is preserving the self-crafted look, ensuring everything is custom-made. That’s an element I want to keep true to, regardless of we achieve. Additionally, I wish to appear on a mythical beast each show. Remember how legends ride bikes on stage? Exactly that, but on a mythical creature.”