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While numerous rockers have borrowed from epic fantasy, only a handful have fully embraced the mythical lifestyle. Admittedly, they could adorn their album sleeves with ghouls, beasts, captive women and muscular warriors, but has any musician ever needed to find a lost unicorn horn from a frost-covered ground in the midst of winter? Did a performer taken the time peering in the interior of a traveling vehicle, repairing their own armor?

Immersed in the Legend

Created in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have encountered such situations and additional ones as they embody their grand tales. From heraldic, catchy anthems to eye-popping live shows, outfit creation, visuals and cover artwork, they’re not so much a metal band as a full immersive experience.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a outfit with characters,” explains singer, guitar player, sword-wielder and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle travels from a sold-out gig in Cologne to another in Aschaffenburg – they are playing five gigs in the UK currently. “We played two shows and were scheduled on a spooky event, where I chose at the final moment to dress up. Everything was super-DIY, but we had an amazing time and the feeling in the room was unforgettable. I realized, ‘What if we could have such enjoyment at every show?’”

The Band’s Evolution

After that, the ensemble – which includes Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” joined by a plague doctor (low-end instrumentalist), haughty vampire (lead guitarist) and enigmatic nature priest (percussionist) – never turned back. The new record, the follow-up record, brings to mind of famous rock groups uniting to struggle onward through a Frank Frazetta fantasy world – a heroic opus that places them on the edge of far grander things.

The Bestiary was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her bandmates. “This helped a much better album,” she says of the team effort. “It was challenging at first – I’d always felt a particular degree of pride being a woman in music doing everything solo. There have been so many times where I finished performing and an audience member will say, ‘The other members compose cool melodies!’ and I respond, ‘Wait – I wrote all that.’”

Artistry and Imagination

With their growing popularity has grown, 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 track for a art school education before pulling back at the possibility of so much debt. “The exciting part about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to demonstrate artistry,” she says. “From crafting disguises, costume design, mastering post-production music videos … everything is I don’t know how to do, but it’s enjoyable to figure it out in the moment.”

As if creating the group’s detailed mythology (“People are encouraging me to document it because everything is stored,” 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 delegated her completely original scale armor design to a expert from NYC. “It seems like actual armour,” she beams.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

What about the crowd? They embraced the fake blood, soft weapons and handmade props with similar excitement as the musicians. “We had a gig in the Motor City and it seemed like a Renaissance fair,” remembers Riley with affection. “The whole crowd was in cloaks, animal hides, chainmail.”

This isn’t to say, however, that life on the road as fantasy adventurers has been plain sailing. “Each item is always failing and ends up repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Additionally I come up with countless concepts as to how I want things to look, but we’re traveling in a van with limited room. It’s an interesting challenge to create the impression like a larger-than-life story, then pack it down into a small space.”

There have been other logistical problems that would never have plagued fictional warriors. “We did have an ‘disastrous’ moment when we performed at a Portuguese festival in Portugal and my luggage – which had my weapon in it – went missing,” says Riley. “It was a worst-case scenario, because we don’t have an backup plan of the show where I lack a weapon.”

Goals Ahead

As a genuine leader, Riley is enthusiastic about the days to come. “I want to go as far as possible – we should play huge arenas,” she says. “The main aspect that’s truly essential to me is keeping the DIY aesthetic, making sure each detail is crafted by us. This is a feature I want to remain faithful to, no matter what we grow into. Additionally, I wish to make an entrance on a magical horse at all performances. Remember how famous musicians do the motorcycle thing? The same idea, but using a unicorn.”