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Although numerous artists have borrowed from fantasy lore, rarely any have truly lived the enchanted existence. Certainly, they could embellish their album sleeves with monsters, beasts, chained damsels and strong fighters, but has any musician ever needed to retrieve a lost mythical horn from a wintry landscape in the midst of winter? Did a performer devoted hours peering in the rear of a tour bus, mending their own armor?

Embracing the Mythos

Established in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have dealt with such situations and additional ones as they act out their epic fantasies. Starting with heraldic, catchy songs to eye-popping live shows, costume design, videos and cover artwork, they’re more than a metal band as a total artistic immersion.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a costumed concept band,” explains vocalist, guitar player, sword-carrier and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport drives from a packed show in Cologne to a second one in Aschaffenburg – they’re also doing several shows in the UK this week. “We played two shows and received an offer on a Halloween gig, where I decided spontaneously to dress up. The entire setup was highly handmade, but we had an amazing time and the atmosphere was incredible. It occurred to me, ‘How about if we could have such enjoyment always?’”

Growth of the Group

After that, the group – which features Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” alongside a plague doctor (bass player), aristocratic undead (six-string player) and secretive shaman (rhythm keeper) – continued forward. The new record, the band’s second album, conjures visions of famous rock groups uniting to fight their path through a mythical painted realm – a grand composition that places them on the verge of far grander things.

The Bestiary was a first for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her collaborators. “It made it a much better album,” she says of the team effort. “It was challenging at first – There was a sense of a specific level of accomplishment being a woman in music doing everything solo. There’ve been multiple instances where after a show and a person will say, ‘The other members compose cool melodies!’ and I think, ‘Hey – I composed all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

With their growing popularity has increased, so has the scale of their visual elements. “The saying I live by is always that if an effort matters, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. Initially, she was on course for a fine art degree before hesitating at the prospect of so much debt. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s numerous methods to apply artistry,” she says. “From making masks, attire creation, learning how to edit clips … everything is I don’t know how to do, but it’s exciting to discover as we go.”

As if creating the band’s intricate lore (“People are encouraging me to record it because it’s all in here,” Riley says, tapping her head) and making clothing didn’t suffice, the singer self-educated how to craft metal mesh – a challenging endeavor, though she admittedly entrusted her completely original scalemail look to a New York-based specialist. “It’s as if actual armour,” she grins.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

Regarding the fans? They embraced the fake blood, foam swords and papier-mache rat skulls with similar excitement as the musicians. “We had a gig in the Motor City and it seemed like a Renaissance fair,” remembers Riley happily. “All attendees was in capes, wool garments, chainmail.”

However, this doesn’t mean, though, that touring existence as fantasy adventurers has been easy. “Everything is frequently damaged and gets duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Plus I come up with endless ideas as to how I desire the presentation, but we’re traveling in a vehicle with only so much space. It’s a unique problem to create the impression like a larger-than-life story, then store it into a small space.”

We’ve encountered additional practical issues that didn’t affect fictional warriors. “We did have an ‘uh-oh’ moment when we played SonicBlast festival in Portugal and my suitcase – which had my blade in it – got lost,” says Riley. “This became a nightmare, because there’s not an different option of the show where I lack a weapon.”

Goals Ahead

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is enthusiastic about the what’s next. “I aim to reach as far as possible – I dream of huge arenas,” she says. “The main aspect that’s truly essential to me is maintaining the self-crafted look, ensuring everything is custom-made. That’s an element I want to stay authentic to, whatever we achieve. Plus, I desire to ride out on a unicorn at all performances. You know how legends use vehicles in concerts? Exactly that, but using a unicorn.”