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Although many artists have borrowed from high fantasy, only a handful have truly lived the mythical lifestyle. Admittedly, they might decorate their record jackets with ghouls, beasts, chained damsels and strong fighters, but did a member ever have to find a lost unicorn horn from a frost-covered ground in the heart of winter? Has anyone spent time squinting in the interior of a tour bus, repairing their own armor?

Living the Fantasy

Formed in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have dealt with such situations and more as they live out their epic fantasies. Starting with knightly, earworm-heavy anthems to breathtaking performances, costume design, music videos and cover artwork, they’re not so much a heavy metal group as a total artistic immersion.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a themed musical group,” states singer, guitar player, sword-carrier and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle drives from a full-capacity concert in Cologne to a second one in Aschaffenburg – they are playing five gigs in the UK now. “After a couple of performances and got booked on a Halloween gig, where I made a last-minute decision to put on an outfit. It was all super-DIY, but we had a blast and the feeling in the room was electric. I thought, ‘Imagine if we could have such enjoyment every time?’”

Development of Castle Rat

Since then, the band – which showcases Pinkerton as the “Rat Queen” joined by a plague doctor (bassist), proud bloodsucker (lead guitarist) and enigmatic nature priest (drummer) – never turned back. The new record, the group’s sophomore release, conjures visions of classic metal icons joining forces to battle their way through a mythical painted realm – a heroic opus that positions them on the brink of far grander things.

The Bestiary was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her bandmates. “That contributed to a more powerful record,” she says of the group work. “I had difficulty at first – There was a sense of a specific level of satisfaction being a woman in music working independently. There’ve been numerous occasions where I’ve got off stage and some guy will say, ‘The band create awesome guitar parts!’ and I think, ‘Hey – I created all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

With their growing popularity has expanded, so has the scale of their stage presentation. “My motto is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. Initially, she was on course for a art school education before hesitating at the idea of heavy loans. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to express artistic expression,” she says. “From making masks, outfit planning, mastering post-production music videos … it’s all stuff I don’t know how to do, but it’s exciting to discover on the fly.”

Even though developing the group’s detailed mythology (“People are encouraging me to record it because it’s all in here,” Riley says, tapping her head) and making clothing wasn’t enough, the singer taught herself how to craft metal mesh – a difficult task, though she admittedly entrusted her all-new scalemail look to a expert from NYC. “It’s as if actual armour,” she beams.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

Regarding the fans? They loved the fake blood, soft weapons and crafted rodent bones with similar excitement as the group. “We performed a show in Detroit and it looked like a historical festival,” reminisces Riley with affection. “All attendees was in cloaks, wool garments, metal wear.”

That’s not to imply, though, that touring existence as fantasy adventurers has been plain sailing. “All our gear is always failing and becomes repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Plus I get endless ideas as to how I want things to look, but we’re traveling in a vehicle with restricted capacity. It’s an interesting challenge to make it feel like a mythic tale, then compress it into nothing.”

We’ve encountered additional practical issues that would never have plagued mythic characters. “We did have an ‘uh-oh’ moment when we appeared at a music event in Portugal and my suitcase – which had my sword in it – went missing,” says Riley. “That was a worst-case scenario, because there’s not an backup plan of the concert where I don’t have a blade.”

Future Ambitions

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is gung-ho about the what’s next. “I aim to reach as far as possible – we should play huge arenas,” she says. “The main aspect that’s really important to me is keeping the handmade style, ensuring each detail is handmade. It’s a component I want to keep true to, regardless of we grow into. Plus, I want to appear on a unicorn each show. Remember how legends use vehicles in concerts? Exactly that, but with a unicorn.”