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Although plenty of artists have drawn from epic fantasy, few have fully embraced the enchanted way of life. Certainly, they might decorate their album sleeves with ghouls, imps, captive women and strong fighters, but has any musician ever been forced to recover a lost horn from a unicorn from a frost-covered ground in the heart of winter? Did a guitarist devoted hours straining their eyes in the interior of a tour bus, repairing their own armor?

Embracing the Mythos

Created in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have encountered these exact challenges and additional ones as they act out their epic fantasies. Starting with medieval-inspired, earworm-heavy tunes to breathtaking performances, outfit creation, videos and cover artwork, they’re more than a metal band as a total artistic immersion.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a themed musical group,” states singer, guitar player, sword-carrier and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle travels from a sold-out gig in a German city to one more in another town – they’re also doing multiple performances in the UK currently. “After a couple of performances and got booked on a October show, where I made a last-minute decision to wear a costume. Everything was super-DIY, but we had an amazing time and the atmosphere was electric. I realized, ‘How about if we could have this much fun always?’”

The Band’s Evolution

From that point on, the band – which features Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” alongside a plague doctor (bassist), proud bloodsucker (guitarist) and mysterious druid (drummer) – continued forward. The Bestiary, the band’s second album, brings to mind of classic metal icons joining forces to battle their way through a mythical painted realm – a epic masterpiece that sets them on the edge of greater success.

The release was a first for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her fellow members. “That contributed to a more powerful project,” she says of the collaborative process. “It was challenging at first – I often experienced a particular degree of pride being a woman in music going it alone. There’ve been multiple instances where after a show and an audience member will say, ‘The other members write great riffs!’ and I think, ‘Wait – I created all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

As the band’s stature has grown, so has the breadth of their stage presentation. “The saying I live by is always that if an effort matters, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. Initially, she was on track for a university studies in art before hesitating at the idea of financial burden. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to apply artistic expression,” she says. “Whether it’s making masks, costume design, learning how to edit clips … these are all things I have no experience with, but it’s exciting to discover as we go.”

Even though building the group’s detailed mythology (“The team is pushing me to record it because it’s all in here,” Riley says, tapping her head) and making clothing wasn’t enough, the singer taught herself how to create armor – a challenging endeavor, though she admittedly left her all-new scale armor design to a New York-based specialist. “It feels like actual armour,” she grins.

Fan Response and Obstacles

Regarding the fans? They embraced the fake blood, foam swords and papier-mache rat skulls with similar excitement as the band. “We played a concert in the Motor City and it looked like a medieval event,” reminisces Riley with affection. “The whole crowd was in robes, wool garments, armor.”

This isn’t to say, nevertheless, that traveling lifestyle as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been smooth. “Each item is frequently damaged and ends up duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Moreover I come up with numerous thoughts as to how I desire the presentation, but we are on the move in a van with restricted capacity. It’s a unique problem to give the sense like a larger-than-life story, then pack it down into nothing.”

We faced additional practical issues that wouldn’t have troubled fictional warriors. “We did have an ‘oh shit’ moment when we played SonicBlast festival in the European country and my baggage – which had my blade in it – got lost,” says Riley. “It was a nightmare, because we don’t have an alternative version of the show where I am without a sword.”

Future Ambitions

As a genuine leader, Riley is gung-ho about the days to come. “My goal is to the top – we should play huge arenas,” she says. “The main aspect that’s truly essential to me is preserving the self-crafted look, ensuring each detail is handmade. This is a feature I want to remain faithful to, whatever we scale to. Oh, and I wish to ride out on a unicorn at all performances. Think about how legends ride bikes on stage? That, but with a unicorn.”