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Although many artists have borrowed from high fantasy, rarely any have fully embraced the enchanted lifestyle. Certainly, they might adorn their album sleeves with creatures, beasts, chained damsels and brawny barbarians, but has an artist ever needed to recover a lost mythical horn from a wintry landscape in the midst of winter? Did anyone taken the time straining their eyes in the interior of a traveling vehicle, repairing their own metal mesh?

Living the Fantasy

Established in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have had to face both these scenarios and more as they live out their heroic dreams. From heraldic, earworm-heavy anthems to breathtaking concerts, costume design, videos and cover artwork, they’re more than a heavy metal group as a full immersive experience.

“It wasn’t planned to be a outfit with characters,” explains singer, guitarist, sword-wielder and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van travels from a full-capacity concert in Cologne to one more in Aschaffenburg – they are playing multiple performances in the UK currently. “We played two shows and got booked on a spooky event, where I made a last-minute decision to put on an outfit. It was all completely self-made, but we had an amazing time and the energy was electric. I thought, ‘Imagine if we could have such enjoyment at every show?’”

The Band’s Evolution

After that, the group – which showcases Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” alongside a pestilence physician (low-end instrumentalist), aristocratic undead (six-string player) and secretive shaman (rhythm keeper) – never turned back. The Bestiary, the group’s sophomore release, evokes images of classic metal icons collaborating to struggle onward through a mythical painted realm – a epic masterpiece that sets them on the brink of greater success.

The release was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her collaborators. “This helped a much better record,” she says of the team effort. “It was challenging at first – I’d always felt a particular degree of satisfaction as a woman in music working independently. I’ve had so many times where I’ve got off stage and some guy will say, ‘Those guys write great riffs!’ and I think, ‘Hey – I wrote all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

As the band’s stature has increased, so has the scale of their stage presentation. “My motto 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 balking at the idea of heavy loans. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to apply creativity,” she says. “Be it crafting disguises, attire creation, figuring out video editing song visuals … everything is I have no experience with, but it’s enjoyable to figure it out as we go.”

Even though building the band’s intricate lore (“Everyone’s urging me to record it because all the ideas are,” Riley says, indicating her head) and sewing costumes were insufficient, the singer self-educated how to craft metal mesh – a challenging endeavor, though she confessedly entrusted her all-new scalemail look to a professional in the city. “It feels like actual armour,” she grins.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

Regarding the fans? They took to the fake blood, toy blades and crafted rodent bones with similar excitement as the musicians. “We played a concert in the Motor City and it resembled a medieval event,” recalls Riley happily. “The whole crowd was in cloaks, sheepskin, chainmail.”

This isn’t to say, though, that touring existence as mythical wanderers has been easy. “Everything is constantly breaking and becomes fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Plus I get countless concepts as to how I desire the presentation, but we tour in a van with restricted capacity. It’s a unique problem to create the impression like a grand epic, then compress it into nothing.”

We faced other logistical problems that didn’t affect mythic characters. “There was an ‘oh shit’ moment when we appeared at SonicBlast festival in Portugal and my suitcase – which had my blade in it – got lost,” says Riley. “It was a worst-case scenario, because there is no an backup plan of the show where I lack a blade.”

Goals Ahead

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is gung-ho about the days to come. “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 keeping the self-crafted look, guaranteeing all elements is handmade. It’s a component I want to stay authentic to, whatever we achieve. Oh, and I wish to ride out on a mythical beast every night. Remember how legends use vehicles in concerts? That, but on a mythical creature.”