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While numerous rockers have drawn from epic fantasy, only a handful have fully embraced the fantasy existence. Admittedly, they could adorn their album covers with ghouls, goblins, captive women and strong fighters, but did a member ever been forced to recover a misplaced mythical horn from a frost-covered ground in the depths of winter? Did a performer spent time straining their eyes in the back of a tour bus, fixing their own chainmail?

Living the Fantasy

Created in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have dealt with such situations and more as they live out their heroic dreams. Starting with medieval-inspired, catchy anthems to stunning live shows, costume design, videos and album art, they’re more than a metal band as a full immersive experience.

“It wasn’t planned to be a outfit with characters,” explains vocalist, guitarist, blade-handler and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle drives from a sold-out gig in Cologne to another in another town – they are playing several shows in the UK currently. “After a couple of performances and got booked on a spooky event, where I chose at the final moment to dress up. The entire setup was super-DIY, but we had a blast and the atmosphere was electric. I realized, ‘Imagine if we could have so much excitement every time?’”

Growth of the Group

From that point on, the band – which includes Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” joined by a medic from history (low-end instrumentalist), aristocratic undead (lead guitarist) and mysterious druid (percussionist) – never turned back. The new record, the follow-up record, brings to mind of legendary heavy bands uniting to struggle onward through a mythical painted realm – a epic masterpiece that places them on the brink of far grander things.

The Bestiary was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her bandmates. “It made it a lot stronger project,” she says of the team effort. “It was challenging at first – I’d always felt a certain amount of satisfaction as a female in music going it alone. There’ve been multiple instances where after a show and a person will say, ‘The band compose cool melodies!’ and I think, ‘Wait – I created all that.’”

Artistry and Imagination

As their fame has increased, so has the breadth of their stage presentation. “My philosophy is always that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. At first, she had been on track for a art school education before hesitating at the prospect of so much debt. “The exciting part about Castle Rat is there’s numerous methods to express artistic expression,” she says. “Whether it’s making masks, costume design, figuring out video editing clips … everything is I have no experience with, but it’s exciting to discover on the fly.”

Even though creating the group’s detailed mythology (“The team is pushing me to record it because everything is stored,” Riley says, indicating her head) and making clothing wasn’t enough, the vocalist self-educated how to craft metal mesh – a challenging endeavor, though she admittedly delegated her all-new scale armor design to a expert from NYC. “It’s as if actual armour,” she grins.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

As for audiences? They took to the fake blood, soft weapons and papier-mache rat skulls with as much gusto as the musicians. “We performed a show in the Motor City and it resembled a Renaissance fair,” remembers Riley fondly. “All attendees was in capes, wool garments, chainmail.”

This isn’t to say, nevertheless, that touring existence as mythical wanderers has been easy. “Each item is constantly breaking and gets duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Plus I get endless ideas as to how I desire the presentation, but we’re traveling in a bus with restricted capacity. It’s an interesting challenge to make it feel like a mythic tale, then store it into minimal luggage.”

There have been additional practical issues that wouldn’t have troubled fictional warriors. “There was an ‘disastrous’ moment when we appeared at SonicBlast festival in Portugal and my suitcase – which had my blade in it – got lost,” says Riley. “This became a terrible situation, because we don’t have an different option of the performance where I am without a sword.”

Future Ambitions

As a genuine leader, Riley is eager about the days to come. “I aim to reach all the way – let’s do large venues,” she says. “The main aspect that’s deeply meaningful to me is preserving the self-crafted look, guaranteeing each detail is crafted by us. It’s a component I want to remain faithful to, regardless of we achieve. Plus, I wish to make an entrance on a unicorn every night. Remember how some artists do the motorcycle thing? Exactly that, but with a unicorn.”