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While plenty of artists have borrowed from epic fantasy, only a handful have genuinely embodied the enchanted lifestyle. Certainly, they could embellish their record jackets with monsters, beasts, manacled maidens and strong fighters, but has any musician ever been forced to retrieve a missing mythical horn from a snowy field in the heart of winter? Did a performer devoted hours peering in the rear of a traveling vehicle, mending their own metal mesh?

Living the Fantasy

Established in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have had to face both these scenarios and others as they embody their heroic dreams. Starting with heraldic, earworm-heavy tunes to eye-popping live shows, 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 costumed concept band,” says vocalist, guitar player, sword-carrier and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport speeds from a full-capacity concert in a German city to a second one in another town – they’re also doing several shows in the UK this week. “Initially, we performed twice and got booked on a spooky event, where I made a last-minute decision to wear a costume. Everything was completely self-made, but we had so much fun and the atmosphere was electric. It occurred to me, ‘What if we could have this much fun always?’”

Development of Castle Rat

From that point on, the ensemble – which features Pinkerton as the “Rat Queen” alongside a medic from history (low-end instrumentalist), aristocratic undead (lead guitarist) and mysterious druid (drummer) – haven’t looked back. The Bestiary, the band’s second album, conjures visions of legendary heavy bands uniting to fight their path through a Frank Frazetta fantasy world – a heroic opus that positions them on the verge of greater success.

The release was a first for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her bandmates. “That contributed to a lot stronger record,” she says of the team effort. “It was challenging at first – I often experienced a particular degree of pride as a woman in music doing everything solo. There have been multiple instances where I finished performing and an audience member will say, ‘Those guys create awesome guitar parts!’ and I respond, ‘Hey – I created all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

As the band’s stature has grown, so has the scale of their visual elements. “The saying I live by is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. Initially, she was on track for a art school education before pulling back at the possibility of financial burden. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to demonstrate artistry,” she says. “Be it crafting disguises, attire creation, learning how to edit music videos … everything is I don’t know how to do, but it’s exciting to discover on the fly.”

Even though developing the band’s intricate lore (“The team is pushing me to document it because everything is stored,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and sewing costumes were insufficient, the singer self-educated how to make chainmail – a difficult task, though she confessedly left her all-new scale armor design to a expert from NYC. “It’s as if actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

Regarding the fans? They loved the stage blood, toy blades and papier-mache rat skulls with as much gusto as the musicians. “We had a gig in the Motor City and it looked like a historical festival,” remembers Riley fondly. “All attendees was in cloaks, sheepskin, metal wear.”

This isn’t to say, though, that touring existence as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been plain sailing. “Each item is always failing and gets duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Additionally I get endless ideas as to how I want things to look, but we’re traveling in a vehicle with limited room. It’s an interesting challenge to make it feel like a grand epic, then compress it into nothing.”

There have been additional practical issues that wouldn’t have troubled legendary fantasy heroes. “There was an ‘uh-oh’ moment when we appeared at SonicBlast festival in the European country and my luggage – which had my weapon in it – got lost,” says Riley. “It was a worst-case scenario, because there’s not an backup plan of the performance where I lack a weapon.”

Goals Ahead

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is gung-ho about the days to come. “My goal is all the way – we should play large venues,” she says. “The main aspect that’s truly essential to me is keeping the self-crafted look, making sure all elements is crafted by us. This is a feature I want to keep true to, no matter what we achieve. Plus, I want to make an entrance on a mythical beast each show. Think about how some artists do the motorcycle thing? Exactly that, but with a unicorn.”