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Although plenty of musicians have taken inspiration from high fantasy, few have genuinely embodied the enchanted lifestyle. Certainly, they may decorate their album sleeves with ghouls, imps, captive women and brawny barbarians, but has any musician ever have to find a lost mythical horn from a snowy field in the heart of winter? Did a performer devoted hours straining their eyes in the rear of a traveling vehicle, mending their own armor?

Embracing the Mythos

Created in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have had to face these exact challenges and more as they live out their grand tales. Starting with knightly, catchy anthems to stunning performances, outfit creation, 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,” states singer, guitarist, sword-wielder and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van drives from a packed show in Cologne to a second one in another town – they are playing several shows in the UK currently. “After a couple of performances and were scheduled on a Halloween gig, where I decided spontaneously to wear a costume. The entire setup was highly handmade, but we had an amazing time and the feeling in the room was unforgettable. It occurred to me, ‘Imagine if we could have such enjoyment at every show?’”

Development of Castle Rat

After that, the group – which features Pinkerton as the “Rat Queen” together with a medic from history (bassist), proud bloodsucker (lead guitarist) and enigmatic nature priest (drummer) – never turned back. The Bestiary, the group’s sophomore release, evokes images of famous rock groups uniting to battle their way through a heroic art landscape – a heroic opus that places them on the verge of greater success.

The Bestiary was a first for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her fellow members. “It made it a much better album,” she says of the group work. “It was challenging at first – I often experienced a particular degree of accomplishment being a woman in music working independently. There’ve been numerous occasions where I’ve got off stage and some guy will say, ‘The other members write great riffs!’ and I respond, ‘Wait – I created all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

As their fame has increased, so has the scale of their production design. “My motto is always that if an effort matters, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. At first, she had been on course for a fine art degree before pulling back at the idea of so much debt. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s numerous methods to demonstrate artistry,” she says. “Be it making masks, costume design, learning how to edit music videos … it’s all stuff I have no experience with, but it’s enjoyable to discover as we go.”

Even though building the group’s detailed mythology (“The team is pushing me to record it because it’s all in here,” Riley says, tapping her head) and stitching garments wasn’t enough, the vocalist learned on her own how to make chainmail – a difficult task, though she admittedly left her all-new scale armor design to a expert from NYC. “It’s as if actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

Regarding the fans? They loved the fake blood, toy blades and crafted rodent bones with equal enthusiasm as the group. “We had a gig in the Motor City and it resembled a Renaissance fair,” remembers Riley fondly. “All attendees was in capes, sheepskin, armor.”

That’s not to imply, though, that touring existence as mythical wanderers has been smooth. “Everything is always failing and ends up repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Additionally I get numerous thoughts as to how I want things to look, but we’re traveling in a van with limited room. It’s a fascinating test to make it feel like a larger-than-life story, then compress it into nothing.”

There have been further organizational challenges that didn’t affect legendary fantasy heroes. “We experienced an ‘oh shit’ moment when we appeared at SonicBlast festival in the European country and my suitcase – which had my weapon in it – got lost,” says Riley. “That was a terrible situation, because we don’t have an alternative version of the show where I lack a blade.”

Upcoming Plans

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is eager about the what’s next. “I want to go as far as possible – we should play large venues,” she says. “The key element that’s deeply meaningful to me is preserving the DIY aesthetic, making sure each detail is handmade. That’s an element I want to stay authentic to, no matter what we achieve. Plus, I want to appear on a mythical beast every night. Think about how famous musicians ride bikes on stage? That, but with a unicorn.”