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While plenty of rockers have borrowed from high fantasy, few have fully embraced the fantasy way of life. Certainly, they could embellish their album covers with creatures, goblins, chained damsels and strong fighters, but did a member ever have to recover a lost horn from a unicorn from a wintry landscape in the heart of winter? Has a guitarist spent time peering in the rear of a road transport, repairing their own chainmail?

Embracing the Mythos

Created in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have had to face such situations and more as they act out their heroic dreams. From heraldic, earworm-heavy tunes to stunning performances, outfit creation, visuals and record designs, they’re not so much a metal band as a complete sensory journey.

“It wasn’t planned to be a costumed concept band,” explains singer, guitarist, blade-handler and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle drives from a packed show in Cologne to another in another town – they have multiple performances in the UK this week. “After a couple of performances and got booked on a Halloween gig, where I made a last-minute decision to wear a costume. The entire setup was super-DIY, but we had an amazing time and the feeling in the room was incredible. I thought, ‘Imagine if we could have so much excitement at every show?’”

Development of Castle Rat

Since then, the group – which features Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” alongside a medic from history (low-end instrumentalist), haughty vampire (lead guitarist) and enigmatic nature priest (rhythm keeper) – continued forward. The new record, the follow-up record, evokes images of famous rock groups collaborating to struggle onward through a heroic art landscape – a grand composition that positions them on the brink of bigger achievements.

The Bestiary was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her fellow members. “That contributed to a lot stronger album,” she says of the collaborative process. “I had difficulty at first – I often experienced a particular degree of satisfaction as a female in music going it alone. I’ve had multiple instances where I finished performing and some guy will say, ‘The other members write great riffs!’ and I respond, ‘Hey – I composed all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

With their growing popularity has expanded, so has the scale of their production design. “My motto is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. She was originally on track for a art school education before hesitating at the prospect of heavy loans. “The exciting part about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to express artistry,” she says. “From crafting disguises, outfit planning, figuring out video editing music videos … everything is I don’t know how to do, but it’s enjoyable to learn on the fly.”

As if developing the ensemble’s complex backstory (“People are encouraging me to document it because everything is stored,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and making clothing wasn’t enough, the singer learned on her own how to create armor – a difficult task, though she confessedly delegated her completely original scalemail look to a expert from NYC. “It seems like actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

Regarding the fans? They took to the theatrical gore, toy blades and crafted rodent bones with as much gusto as the group. “We had a gig in the Motor City and it looked like a historical festival,” reminisces Riley fondly. “Everyone was in cloaks, wool garments, chainmail.”

That’s not to imply, however, that life on the road as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been plain sailing. “Everything is constantly breaking and gets repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Moreover I come up with endless ideas as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we are on the move in a bus with limited room. It’s a unique problem to make it feel like a grand epic, then store it into minimal luggage.”

There have been further organizational challenges that would never have plagued legendary fantasy heroes. “We did have an ‘disastrous’ moment when we appeared at a music event in Portugal and my baggage – which had my weapon in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “This became a nightmare, because there is no an different option of the performance where I lack a blade.”

Future Ambitions

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is gung-ho about the future. “I want to go all the way – I dream of huge arenas,” she says. “The key element that’s deeply meaningful to me is keeping the handmade style, making sure each detail is custom-made. It’s a component I want to remain faithful to, no matter what we achieve. Oh, and I want to ride out on a mythical beast at all performances. You know how some artists ride bikes on stage? The same idea, but using a unicorn.”