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Although many rockers have taken inspiration from fantasy lore, few have truly lived the fantasy existence. Admittedly, they may decorate their album sleeves with creatures, imps, captive women and muscular warriors, but has any musician ever needed to find a misplaced mythical horn from a snowy field in the midst of winter? Has anyone taken the time peering in the rear of a road transport, mending their own armor?

Living the Fantasy

Formed in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have dealt with these exact challenges and others as they live out their grand tales. Starting with medieval-inspired, memorable songs to stunning concerts, attire styling, visuals and cover artwork, they’re more than a metal band as a full immersive experience.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a costumed concept band,” explains singer, guitarist, sword-wielder and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport speeds from a full-capacity concert in a German city to a second one in Aschaffenburg – they’re also doing multiple performances in the UK currently. “After a couple of performances and received an offer on a October show, where I decided spontaneously to dress up. The entire setup was completely self-made, but we had a blast and the feeling in the room was incredible. I thought, ‘How about if we could have so much excitement always?’”

The Band’s Evolution

From that point on, the band – which showcases Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” joined by a pestilence physician (bass player), aristocratic undead (six-string player) and secretive shaman (percussionist) – continued forward. The Bestiary, the group’s sophomore release, conjures visions of legendary heavy bands joining forces to fight their path through a heroic art landscape – a heroic opus that positions them on the verge of bigger achievements.

The Bestiary was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her bandmates. “That contributed to a much better album,” she says of the group work. “I had difficulty at first – I often experienced a certain amount of accomplishment as a female in music doing everything solo. I’ve had multiple instances where after a show and a person will say, ‘The band compose cool melodies!’ and I respond, ‘Wait – I wrote all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

As the band’s stature has grown, so has the scale of their production design. “My philosophy is always that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton laughs. At first, she had been on path for a university studies in art before pulling back at the possibility of so much debt. “The exciting part about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to express creativity,” she says. “Whether it’s crafting disguises, outfit planning, figuring out video editing clips … everything is I don’t know how to do, but it’s enjoyable to learn as we go.”

Even though creating the band’s intricate lore (“The team is pushing me to write it down because it’s all in here,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and sewing costumes were insufficient, the vocalist learned on her own how to craft metal mesh – a challenging endeavor, though she admittedly left her all-new scale armor design to a professional in the city. “It feels like actual armour,” she beams.

Fan Response and Obstacles

What about the crowd? They loved the fake blood, toy blades and papier-mache rat skulls with as much gusto as the musicians. “We performed a concert in the Motor City and it resembled a Renaissance fair,” recalls Riley happily. “The whole crowd was in capes, sheepskin, metal wear.”

That’s not to imply, nevertheless, that touring existence as mythical wanderers has been easy. “Each item is always failing and ends up repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Additionally I come up with endless ideas as to how I desire the presentation, but we are on the move in a bus with restricted capacity. It’s a unique problem to create the impression like a larger-than-life story, then pack it down into nothing.”

We faced other logistical problems that would never have plagued mythic characters. “We experienced an ‘disastrous’ moment when we played a Portuguese festival in Portugal and my luggage – which had my weapon in it – got lost,” says Riley. “It was a nightmare, because there’s not an backup plan of the concert where I am without a sword.”

Future Ambitions

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is eager about the days to come. “My goal is all the way – let’s do huge arenas,” she says. “The key element that’s truly essential to me is keeping the handmade style, making sure each detail is handmade. That’s an element I want to remain faithful to, regardless of we grow into. Plus, I want to appear on a unicorn every night. You know how legends use vehicles in concerts? That, but on a mythical creature.”