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Although many rockers have borrowed from epic fantasy, rarely any have truly lived the fantasy existence. Sure, they could decorate their album covers with monsters, imps, chained damsels and strong fighters, but has an artist ever needed to find a missing unicorn horn from a frost-covered ground in the depths of winter? Did a performer devoted hours straining their eyes in the rear of a traveling vehicle, mending their own armor?

Living the Fantasy

Created in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have encountered such situations and additional ones as they embody their heroic dreams. Starting with medieval-inspired, earworm-heavy tunes to stunning live shows, attire styling, videos and album art, they’re not just a heavy metal group as a complete sensory journey.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a themed musical group,” says singer, guitar player, sword-carrier and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle travels from a sold-out gig in Cologne to a second one in Aschaffenburg – they are playing multiple performances in the UK currently. “Initially, we performed twice and received an offer on a spooky event, where I decided spontaneously to dress up. Everything was super-DIY, but we had so much fun and the atmosphere was electric. It occurred to me, ‘What if we could have such enjoyment every time?’”

Growth of the Group

After that, the band – which features Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” alongside a pestilence physician (low-end instrumentalist), haughty vampire (six-string player) and mysterious druid (percussionist) – haven’t looked back. The new record, the follow-up record, conjures visions of classic metal icons joining forces to battle their way through a heroic art landscape – a grand composition that places them on the edge of bigger achievements.

The Bestiary was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her bandmates. “This helped a much better record,” she says of the team effort. “It was challenging at first – I’d always felt a particular degree of accomplishment as a woman in music working independently. There have been multiple instances where I’ve got off stage and a person will say, ‘Those guys write great riffs!’ and I’m like, ‘Hey – I composed all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

With their growing popularity has expanded, so has the scope of their stage presentation. “The saying I live by is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. At first, she had been on course for a fine art degree before hesitating at the prospect of so much debt. “The exciting part about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to apply artistic expression,” she says. “Be it making masks, costume design, figuring out video editing clips … everything is I have no experience with, but it’s enjoyable to discover as we go.”

Even though developing the band’s intricate lore (“People are encouraging me to write it down because it’s all in here,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and stitching garments were insufficient, the vocalist self-educated how to craft metal mesh – a challenging endeavor, though she admittedly entrusted her all-new scalemail look to a professional in the city. “It’s as if actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

As for audiences? They loved the fake blood, 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 medieval event,” remembers Riley with affection. “All attendees was in robes, animal hides, armor.”

However, this doesn’t mean, however, that traveling lifestyle as fantasy adventurers has been plain sailing. “Each item is constantly breaking and gets repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Plus I get countless concepts as to how I desire the presentation, but we tour in a vehicle with only so much space. It’s a fascinating test to make it feel like a larger-than-life story, then pack it down into nothing.”

There have been additional practical issues that didn’t affect mythic characters. “We did have an ‘disastrous’ moment when we played a Portuguese festival in the European country and my suitcase – which had my weapon in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “It was a worst-case scenario, because there is no an different option of the performance where I am without a blade.”

Goals Ahead

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is eager about the what’s next. “I aim to reach all the way – let’s do stadiums,” she says. “The main aspect that’s truly essential to me is maintaining the self-crafted look, guaranteeing all elements is handmade. This is a feature I want to stay authentic to, regardless of we grow into. Plus, I want to ride out on a mythical beast at all performances. Think about how famous musicians use vehicles in concerts? That, but using a unicorn.”