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While numerous rockers have taken inspiration from high fantasy, few have genuinely embodied the fantasy lifestyle. Admittedly, they might embellish their album sleeves with creatures, imps, captive women and muscular warriors, but did a member ever needed to find a missing horn from a unicorn from a frost-covered ground in the heart of winter? Did a performer devoted hours squinting in the rear of a traveling vehicle, repairing their own metal mesh?

Embracing the Mythos

Created in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have had to face these exact challenges and additional ones as they live out their epic fantasies. Starting with heraldic, memorable tunes to breathtaking concerts, costume design, visuals and record designs, they’re more than a heavy metal group as a complete sensory journey.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a themed musical group,” explains vocalist, guitarist, sword-carrier and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport drives from a packed show in a German city to another in Aschaffenburg – they are playing five gigs in the UK currently. “Initially, we performed twice and got booked on a October show, where I chose at the final moment to dress up. It was all super-DIY, but we had a blast and the feeling in the room was incredible. I thought, ‘How about if we could have such enjoyment every time?’”

The Band’s Evolution

Since then, the group – which features Pinkerton as the “Rat Queen” together with a pestilence physician (bass player), haughty vampire (six-string player) and secretive shaman (percussionist) – continued forward. Their latest album, the group’s sophomore release, brings to mind of famous rock groups joining forces to battle their way through a mythical painted realm – a heroic opus that sets them on the edge of greater success.

This album was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her collaborators. “This helped a much better record,” she says of the group work. “I had difficulty at first – I’d always felt a particular degree of pride being a woman in music doing everything solo. There have been multiple instances where after a show and a person will say, ‘Those guys create awesome guitar parts!’ and I’m like, ‘Hey – I created all that.’”

Artistry and Imagination

As the band’s stature has grown, so has the breadth of their production design. “My motto is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. Initially, she was on course for a art school education before balking at the idea of heavy loans. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to apply artistic expression,” she says. “From making masks, outfit planning, figuring out video editing music videos … it’s all stuff I don’t know how to do, but it’s enjoyable to discover as we go.”

Even though creating the ensemble’s complex backstory (“The team is pushing me to document it because it’s all in here,” Riley says, indicating her head) and stitching garments didn’t suffice, the singer taught herself how to craft metal mesh – a challenging endeavor, though she confessedly delegated her completely original scalemail look to a professional in the city. “It’s as if actual armour,” she beams.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

What about the crowd? They embraced the theatrical gore, soft weapons and crafted rodent bones with equal enthusiasm as the musicians. “We played a gig in the Motor City and it seemed like a medieval event,” reminisces Riley fondly. “All attendees was in capes, wool garments, armor.”

However, this doesn’t mean, though, that life on the road as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been smooth. “All our gear is always failing and ends up fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Plus I get endless ideas as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we’re traveling in a bus with only so much space. It’s an interesting challenge to give the sense like a mythic tale, then pack it down into minimal luggage.”

We faced additional practical issues that would never have plagued mythic characters. “We did have an ‘uh-oh’ moment when we played a music event in the European country and my suitcase – which had my sword in it – went missing,” says Riley. “This became a worst-case scenario, because we don’t have an alternative version of the performance where I lack a weapon.”

Goals Ahead

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is eager about the future. “I want to go as far as possible – let’s do huge arenas,” she says. “The only thing that’s deeply meaningful to me is maintaining the handmade style, ensuring everything is custom-made. This is a feature I want to keep true to, regardless of we scale to. Plus, I want to ride out on a magical horse at all performances. Remember how some artists ride bikes on stage? The same idea, but on a mythical creature.”