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While many artists have borrowed from fantasy lore, few have truly lived the enchanted existence. Certainly, they could decorate their album sleeves with creatures, imps, captive women and strong fighters, but has any musician ever needed to retrieve a missing horn from a unicorn from a frost-covered ground in the heart of winter? Did a guitarist spent time straining their eyes in the rear of a road transport, mending their own metal mesh?

Embracing the Mythos

Established in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have encountered such situations and more as they live out their heroic dreams. From heraldic, earworm-heavy anthems to stunning live shows, attire styling, music videos and album art, they’re not so much a metal band as a full immersive experience.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a outfit with characters,” says singer, guitar player, sword-carrier and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport drives from a sold-out gig in a German city to a second one in Aschaffenburg – they’re also doing five gigs in the UK now. “After a couple of performances and were scheduled on a Halloween gig, where I decided spontaneously to dress up. Everything was completely self-made, but we had a blast and the atmosphere was incredible. I thought, ‘Imagine if we could have this much fun at every show?’”

Growth of the Group

From that point on, the ensemble – which includes Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” together with a plague doctor (bassist), proud bloodsucker (six-string player) and enigmatic nature priest (drummer) – never turned back. The Bestiary, the group’s sophomore release, conjures visions of legendary heavy bands collaborating to fight their path through a heroic art landscape – a grand composition that positions them on the brink of greater success.

The release was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her fellow members. “That contributed to a more powerful record,” she says of the team effort. “I struggled at first – I’d always felt a certain amount of accomplishment as a woman in music doing everything solo. I’ve had numerous occasions where I’ve got off stage and an audience member will say, ‘The other members create awesome guitar parts!’ and I think, ‘Listen – I created all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

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 chuckles. She was originally on course for a university studies in art before balking at the idea of financial burden. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to express artistic expression,” she says. “Whether it’s making masks, costume design, mastering post-production music videos … everything is I don’t know how to do, but it’s fun to learn on the fly.”

As if creating the ensemble’s complex backstory (“The team is pushing me to record it because everything is stored,” Riley says, indicating her head) and making clothing wasn’t enough, the vocalist self-educated how to make chainmail – no mean feat, though she admittedly left her completely original scalemail look to a expert from NYC. “It feels like actual armour,” she grins.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

What about the crowd? They loved the theatrical gore, toy blades and crafted rodent bones with similar excitement as the musicians. “We performed a gig in the Motor City and it looked like a medieval event,” reminisces Riley happily. “All attendees was in robes, sheepskin, metal wear.”

That’s not to imply, however, that life on the road as mythical wanderers has been plain sailing. “All our gear is frequently damaged and ends up duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Moreover I get endless ideas as to how I desire the presentation, but we are on the move in a van with restricted capacity. It’s a unique problem to make it feel like a grand epic, then store it into a small space.”

There have been additional practical issues that would never have plagued legendary fantasy heroes. “There was an ‘oh shit’ moment when we played a Portuguese festival in the European country and my suitcase – which had my weapon in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “That was a nightmare, because there’s not an alternative version of the show where I don’t have a weapon.”

Future Ambitions

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is eager about the future. “I aim to reach all the way – I dream of huge arenas,” she says. “The main aspect that’s really important to me is keeping the handmade style, ensuring all elements is crafted by us. It’s a component I want to stay authentic to, no matter what we scale to. Additionally, I desire to ride out on a unicorn each show. Think about how some artists ride bikes on stage? The same idea, but with a unicorn.”