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While numerous rockers have taken inspiration from fantasy lore, few have truly lived the fantasy lifestyle. Sure, they may embellish their album covers with ghouls, goblins, captive women and brawny barbarians, but has an artist ever been forced to recover a lost mythical horn from a wintry landscape in the depths of winter? Did a guitarist spent time straining their eyes in the interior of a tour bus, fixing their own metal mesh?

Embracing the Mythos

Formed in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have encountered such situations and others as they act out their grand tales. Starting with medieval-inspired, memorable tunes to breathtaking live shows, outfit creation, visuals and album art, they’re not just a metal band as a total artistic immersion.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a costumed concept band,” states singer, guitarist, blade-handler and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van drives from a packed show in Cologne to another in another town – they’re also doing several shows in the UK currently. “Initially, we performed twice and received an offer on a Halloween gig, where I chose at the final moment to put on an outfit. The entire setup was completely self-made, but we had a blast and the energy was unforgettable. I thought, ‘Imagine if we could have so much excitement at every show?’”

Development of Castle Rat

Since then, the group – which features Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” joined by a plague doctor (low-end instrumentalist), aristocratic undead (six-string player) and mysterious druid (rhythm keeper) – haven’t looked back. The new record, the follow-up record, brings to mind of classic metal icons collaborating to battle their way through a heroic art landscape – a heroic opus that positions them on the brink of bigger achievements.

This album was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her collaborators. “It made it a much better project,” she says of the team effort. “It was challenging at first – I’d always felt a particular degree of pride as a woman in music going it alone. There’ve been so many times where after a show and some guy will say, ‘Those guys compose cool melodies!’ and I respond, ‘Listen – I created all that.’”

Artistry and Imagination

As the band’s stature has grown, so has the breadth of their visual elements. “The saying I live by is always that if an effort matters, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. She was originally on course for a art school education before pulling back at the possibility of heavy loans. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s numerous methods to apply artistry,” she says. “Be it making masks, costume design, mastering post-production music videos … it’s all stuff I am unfamiliar with, but it’s fun to discover on the fly.”

Even though building the ensemble’s complex backstory (“People are encouraging me to write it down because it’s all in here,” Riley says, tapping her head) and sewing costumes were insufficient, the singer self-educated how to make chainmail – a difficult task, though she admittedly delegated her completely original scalemail look to a New York-based specialist. “It feels like actual armour,” she grins.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

What about the crowd? They loved the stage blood, toy blades and crafted rodent bones with similar excitement as the group. “We had a show in the Motor City and it seemed like a Renaissance fair,” recalls Riley happily. “All attendees was in robes, animal hides, metal wear.”

This isn’t to say, nevertheless, that traveling lifestyle as fantasy adventurers has been easy. “Each item is frequently damaged and gets fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Moreover I get numerous thoughts as to how I want things to look, but we are on the move in a vehicle with restricted capacity. It’s a unique problem to give the sense like a larger-than-life story, then store it into a small space.”

We’ve encountered additional practical issues that didn’t affect legendary fantasy heroes. “We experienced an ‘oh shit’ moment when we appeared at a Portuguese festival in Portugal and my baggage – which had my sword in it – got lost,” says Riley. “It was a terrible situation, because there is no an alternative version of the performance where I don’t have a weapon.”

Future Ambitions

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is enthusiastic about the what’s next. “I aim to reach all the way – we should play stadiums,” she says. “The key element that’s truly essential to me is keeping the DIY aesthetic, ensuring each detail is crafted by us. It’s a component I want to keep true to, no matter what we achieve. Plus, I wish to appear on a mythical beast each show. Think about how some artists use vehicles in concerts? Exactly that, but using a unicorn.”