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While plenty of rockers have borrowed from fantasy lore, only a handful have genuinely embodied the fantasy existence. Admittedly, they could adorn their record jackets with creatures, goblins, manacled maidens and muscular warriors, but has an artist ever needed to find a missing unicorn horn from a wintry landscape in the depths of winter? Has a guitarist devoted hours straining their eyes in the interior of a road transport, mending their own metal mesh?

Living the Fantasy

Formed in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have dealt with such situations and others as they act out their heroic dreams. Starting with knightly, earworm-heavy songs to stunning live shows, outfit creation, videos and record designs, they’re not just a metal band as a total artistic immersion.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a outfit with characters,” states singer, guitar player, sword-carrier and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van travels from a packed show in Cologne to one more in another town – they have several shows in the UK now. “Initially, we performed twice and were scheduled on a October show, where I chose at the final moment to put on an outfit. The entire setup was completely self-made, but we had an amazing time and the feeling in the room was electric. It occurred to me, ‘How about if we could have this much fun at every show?’”

Growth of the Group

From that point on, the group – which includes Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” together with a plague doctor (bass player), proud bloodsucker (lead guitarist) and enigmatic nature priest (drummer) – haven’t looked back. Their latest album, the band’s second album, evokes images of classic metal icons uniting to struggle onward through a mythical painted realm – a heroic opus that sets them on the verge of bigger achievements.

The release was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her fellow members. “This helped a lot stronger album,” she says of the collaborative process. “It was challenging at first – I often experienced a certain amount of pride as a female in music going it alone. There have been so many times 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 their fame has expanded, so has the breadth of their stage presentation. “My motto is always that if an effort matters, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton laughs. At first, she had been on track for a fine art degree before balking at the prospect of heavy loans. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to demonstrate artistic expression,” she says. “Whether it’s creating face coverings, attire creation, figuring out video editing clips … everything is I am unfamiliar with, but it’s exciting to learn as we go.”

As if creating the ensemble’s complex backstory (“Everyone’s urging me to record it because it’s all in here,” Riley says, indicating her head) and sewing costumes wasn’t enough, the vocalist learned on her own how to create armor – a difficult task, though she admittedly left her completely original scalemail look to a professional in the city. “It seems like actual armour,” she grins.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

As for audiences? They embraced the stage blood, foam swords and papier-mache rat skulls with equal enthusiasm as the band. “We had a gig in Detroit and it looked like a historical festival,” remembers Riley fondly. “The whole crowd was in robes, animal hides, chainmail.”

This isn’t to say, nevertheless, that traveling lifestyle as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been plain sailing. “Each item is always failing and becomes duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Moreover I come up with numerous thoughts as to how I want things to look, but we’re traveling in a bus with restricted capacity. It’s a unique problem to give the sense like a larger-than-life story, then compress it into minimal luggage.”

We faced other logistical problems that wouldn’t have troubled mythic characters. “We did have an ‘uh-oh’ moment when we appeared at a Portuguese festival in Portugal and my baggage – which had my sword in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “This became a worst-case scenario, because there is no an alternative version of the concert where I am without a weapon.”

Future Ambitions

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is enthusiastic about the future. “I want to go all the way – I dream of large venues,” she says. “The only thing that’s really important to me is maintaining the handmade style, making sure each detail is handmade. It’s a component I want to keep true to, no matter what we grow into. Plus, I wish to appear on a mythical beast every night. Remember how legends ride bikes on stage? The same idea, but with a unicorn.”