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While many rockers have taken inspiration from epic fantasy, rarely any have truly lived the fantasy existence. Certainly, they could decorate their album covers with creatures, goblins, chained damsels and strong fighters, but has an artist ever needed to find a misplaced unicorn horn from a snowy field in the heart of winter? Did a guitarist taken the time squinting in the back of a traveling vehicle, repairing their own metal mesh?

Embracing the Mythos

Created in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have had to face such situations and others as they live out their heroic dreams. From heraldic, memorable anthems to eye-popping live shows, attire styling, visuals and album art, they’re more than a heavy metal group as a total artistic immersion.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a costumed concept band,” says singer, guitarist, sword-carrier and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport speeds from a sold-out gig in Cologne 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 Halloween gig, where I made a last-minute decision to put on an outfit. It was all highly handmade, but we had a blast and the energy was electric. It occurred to me, ‘How about if we could have so much excitement always?’”

Growth of the Group

From that point on, the band – which features Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” together with a medic from history (bassist), aristocratic undead (lead guitarist) and mysterious druid (percussionist) – haven’t looked back. The Bestiary, the band’s second album, brings to mind of classic metal icons uniting to struggle onward through a heroic art landscape – a epic masterpiece that places them on the verge of far grander things.

This album was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her collaborators. “That contributed to a more powerful album,” she says of the group work. “I struggled at first – I’d always felt a particular degree of pride as a woman in music going it alone. There’ve been multiple instances where after a show and some guy will say, ‘Those guys write great riffs!’ and I respond, ‘Hey – I wrote all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

As their fame has expanded, so has the breadth of their visual elements. “My philosophy is always that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton laughs. Initially, she was on path for a art school education before pulling back at the prospect of heavy loans. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s numerous methods to express artistic expression,” she says. “Be it creating face coverings, outfit planning, learning how to edit song visuals … these are all things I am unfamiliar with, but it’s fun to discover in the moment.”

As if developing the group’s detailed mythology (“The team is pushing me to document it because it’s all in here,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and making clothing were insufficient, the singer learned on her own how to make chainmail – no mean feat, though she admittedly left her all-new 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 embraced the theatrical gore, toy blades and handmade props with similar excitement as the musicians. “We had a show in the Motor City and it looked like a medieval event,” remembers Riley fondly. “Everyone was in capes, wool garments, armor.”

However, this doesn’t mean, however, that traveling lifestyle as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been plain sailing. “Each item is constantly breaking and ends up duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Moreover I get endless ideas as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we tour in a van with restricted capacity. It’s an interesting challenge to make it feel like a mythic tale, then store it into a small space.”

There have been additional practical issues that didn’t affect fictional warriors. “There was an ‘oh shit’ moment when we appeared at SonicBlast festival in the European country and my suitcase – which had my blade in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “That was a terrible situation, because there is no an different option of the show where I am without a blade.”

Goals Ahead

As a genuine leader, Riley is gung-ho about the days to come. “My goal is to the top – I dream of huge arenas,” she says. “The only thing that’s really important to me is keeping the handmade style, ensuring all elements is handmade. This is a feature I want to remain faithful to, no matter what we grow into. Additionally, I desire to ride out on a unicorn at all performances. You know how legends ride bikes on stage? The same idea, but with a unicorn.”