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Although plenty of rockers have drawn from epic fantasy, few have genuinely embodied the mythical way of life. Certainly, they might decorate their album sleeves with monsters, beasts, manacled maidens and brawny barbarians, but did a member ever needed to retrieve a lost unicorn horn from a snowy field in the heart of winter? Has a guitarist taken the time peering in the interior of a traveling vehicle, repairing their own metal mesh?

Immersed in the Legend

Established in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have had to face such situations and others as they live out their epic fantasies. From heraldic, earworm-heavy anthems to breathtaking live shows, attire styling, music videos and album art, they’re not so much a heavy metal group as a full immersive experience.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a themed musical group,” says singer, guitarist, blade-handler and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport drives from a packed show in Cologne to one more in Aschaffenburg – they have several shows in the UK this week. “We played two shows and got booked on a Halloween gig, where I decided spontaneously to dress up. Everything was super-DIY, but we had a blast and the atmosphere was unforgettable. I realized, ‘Imagine if we could have this much fun at every show?’”

Development of Castle Rat

From that point on, the band – which showcases Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” alongside a medic from history (low-end instrumentalist), haughty vampire (guitarist) and mysterious druid (drummer) – continued forward. The new record, the follow-up record, evokes images of classic metal icons uniting to fight their path through a heroic art landscape – a heroic opus that places them on the verge of greater success.

This album was a first for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her collaborators. “It made it a lot stronger record,” she says of the collaborative process. “I struggled at first – There was a sense of a certain amount of pride as a woman in music going it alone. There have been numerous occasions where I finished performing and a person will say, ‘The band create awesome guitar parts!’ and I’m like, ‘Wait – I composed all that.’”

Artistry and Imagination

As the band’s stature has grown, so has the scale of their production design. “The saying I live by is always that if an effort matters, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. At first, she had been on path for a fine art degree before hesitating at the prospect of heavy loans. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to demonstrate artistry,” she says. “Be it crafting disguises, outfit planning, learning how to edit music videos … everything is I have no experience with, but it’s fun to figure it out in the moment.”

As if building the band’s intricate lore (“Everyone’s urging me to document it because everything is stored,” Riley says, tapping her head) and sewing costumes didn’t suffice, the singer self-educated how to create armor – a challenging endeavor, though she confessedly entrusted her brand-new reptilian-inspired outfit to a New York-based specialist. “It’s as if actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

Regarding the fans? They loved the fake blood, foam swords and crafted rodent bones with as much gusto as the musicians. “We had a concert in the Motor City and it resembled a medieval event,” remembers Riley fondly. “The whole crowd was in robes, animal hides, chainmail.”

However, this doesn’t mean, nevertheless, that life on the road as fantasy adventurers has been easy. “Each item is always failing and ends up fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Moreover I’ll have countless concepts as to how I want things to look, but we’re traveling in a vehicle with limited room. It’s a unique problem to make it feel like a mythic tale, then pack it down into a small space.”

We faced other logistical problems that wouldn’t have troubled mythic characters. “We did have an ‘oh shit’ moment when we appeared at a Portuguese festival in the European country and my luggage – which had my blade in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “This became a worst-case scenario, because we don’t have an different option of the concert where I lack a sword.”

Future Ambitions

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is eager about the future. “I aim to reach as far as possible – we should play large venues,” she says. “The only thing that’s truly essential to me is maintaining the DIY aesthetic, ensuring all elements is handmade. That’s an element I want to keep true to, no matter what we achieve. Additionally, I desire to appear on a unicorn at all performances. You know how famous musicians use vehicles in concerts? That, but with a unicorn.”