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While numerous rockers have borrowed from fantasy lore, few have fully embraced the mythical way of life. Sure, they may adorn their album sleeves with monsters, imps, manacled maidens and strong fighters, but has an artist ever been forced to retrieve a missing mythical horn from a frost-covered ground in the heart of winter? Did anyone spent time squinting in the interior of a road transport, mending their own chainmail?

Embracing the Mythos

Created in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have dealt with such situations and more as they live out their grand tales. From heraldic, catchy anthems to breathtaking live shows, costume design, music videos and album art, they’re not so much a heavy metal group as a total artistic immersion.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a outfit with characters,” states vocalist, guitar player, blade-handler and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle travels from a sold-out gig in Cologne to one more in Aschaffenburg – they have multiple performances in the UK now. “We played two shows and received an offer on a spooky event, where I decided spontaneously to dress up. It was all super-DIY, but we had an amazing time and the energy was incredible. It occurred to me, ‘What if we could have such enjoyment always?’”

Growth of the Group

After that, the ensemble – which includes Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” joined by a pestilence physician (bassist), proud bloodsucker (lead guitarist) and enigmatic nature priest (percussionist) – continued forward. Their latest album, the band’s second album, conjures visions of classic metal icons joining forces to struggle onward through a Frank Frazetta fantasy world – a grand composition that sets them on the edge of far grander things.

The Bestiary was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her fellow members. “That contributed to a much better album,” she says of the collaborative process. “It was challenging at first – I’d always felt a particular degree of pride being a woman in music going it alone. There have been so many times where after a show and an audience member will say, ‘The band create awesome guitar parts!’ and I respond, ‘Wait – I wrote all that.’”

Artistry and Imagination

With their growing popularity has grown, so has the scope of their stage presentation. “My philosophy is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton laughs. Initially, she was on course for a university studies in art before balking at the possibility of financial burden. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s numerous methods to apply artistic expression,” she says. “Be it crafting disguises, outfit planning, mastering post-production clips … everything is I am unfamiliar with, but it’s enjoyable to discover in the moment.”

As if developing the band’s intricate lore (“Everyone’s urging me to document it because it’s all in here,” Riley says, tapping her head) and sewing costumes were insufficient, the singer taught herself how to craft metal mesh – a challenging endeavor, though she admittedly delegated her all-new scale armor design to a professional in the city. “It feels like actual armour,” she beams.

Fan Response and Obstacles

Regarding the fans? They took to the fake blood, foam swords and handmade props with equal enthusiasm as the group. “We played a concert in Detroit and it looked like a Renaissance fair,” reminisces Riley happily. “All attendees was in capes, wool garments, armor.”

That’s not to imply, nevertheless, that traveling lifestyle as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been easy. “Everything is frequently damaged and ends up repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Additionally I come up with countless concepts as to how I want things to look, but we’re traveling in a bus with limited room. It’s a fascinating test to give the sense like a larger-than-life story, then store it into minimal luggage.”

We faced other logistical problems that didn’t affect mythic characters. “We did have an ‘disastrous’ moment when we played SonicBlast festival in Portugal and my luggage – which had my sword in it – got lost,” says Riley. “That was a worst-case scenario, because there’s not an different option of the performance where I lack a weapon.”

Future Ambitions

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is eager about the what’s next. “My goal is to the top – we should play huge arenas,” she says. “The only thing that’s really important to me is maintaining the DIY aesthetic, ensuring each detail is custom-made. This is a feature I want to remain faithful to, no matter what we scale to. Oh, and I desire to ride out on a magical horse every night. Remember how legends use vehicles in concerts? Exactly that, but using a unicorn.”