🔗 Share this article

While plenty of musicians have drawn from epic fantasy, rarely any have fully embraced the fantasy way of life. Certainly, they may embellish their album sleeves with monsters, goblins, captive women and strong fighters, but has an artist ever needed to recover a missing unicorn horn from a snowy field in the midst of winter? Has a performer taken the time squinting in the rear of a road transport, fixing their own metal mesh?

Immersed in the Legend

Created in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have had to face these exact challenges and more as they act out their grand tales. From heraldic, memorable songs to eye-popping performances, attire styling, videos and cover artwork, they’re not just a heavy metal group as a full immersive experience.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a outfit with characters,” states singer, guitarist, sword-carrier and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle drives from a sold-out gig in Cologne to another in Aschaffenburg – they’re also doing five gigs in the UK now. “Initially, we performed twice 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 unforgettable. I realized, ‘Imagine if we could have this much fun at every show?’”

The Band’s Evolution

From that point on, the band – which showcases Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” alongside a plague doctor (low-end instrumentalist), proud bloodsucker (lead guitarist) and enigmatic nature priest (percussionist) – haven’t looked back. The Bestiary, the group’s sophomore release, evokes images of famous rock groups joining forces to fight their path through a mythical painted realm – a grand composition that sets them on the brink of greater success.

This album was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her fellow members. “This helped a lot stronger record,” she says of the group work. “It was challenging at first – I often experienced a specific level of satisfaction as a woman in music working independently. There have been multiple instances where I’ve got off stage and some guy will say, ‘The other members compose cool melodies!’ and I’m like, ‘Listen – I created all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

As their fame has grown, so has the breadth of their production design. “The saying I live by is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. At first, she had been on course for a fine art degree before pulling back at the possibility of so much debt. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to express artistic expression,” she says. “Be it crafting disguises, costume design, learning how to edit song visuals … it’s all stuff I don’t know how to do, but it’s exciting to figure it out on the fly.”

As if building the ensemble’s complex backstory (“Everyone’s urging me to document it because it’s all in here,” Riley says, indicating her head) and making clothing wasn’t enough, the singer taught herself how to craft metal mesh – a challenging endeavor, though she admittedly left her all-new scalemail look to a professional in the city. “It feels like actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

As for audiences? They embraced the fake blood, foam swords and papier-mache rat skulls with similar excitement as the band. “We had a concert in Detroit and it seemed like a medieval event,” recalls Riley happily. “All attendees was in capes, sheepskin, chainmail.”

This isn’t to say, however, that traveling lifestyle as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been easy. “Everything is frequently damaged and ends up duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Moreover I’ll have numerous thoughts as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we’re traveling in a van with limited room. It’s a unique problem to make it feel like a mythic tale, then store it into minimal luggage.”

We faced other logistical problems that didn’t affect legendary fantasy heroes. “There was an ‘uh-oh’ moment when we appeared at a Portuguese festival in the European country and my suitcase – which had my sword in it – went missing,” says Riley. “It was a worst-case scenario, because we don’t have an different option of the show where I don’t have a blade.”

Upcoming Plans

As a genuine leader, Riley is eager about the future. “I want to go as far as possible – I dream of huge arenas,” she says. “The key element that’s truly essential to me is keeping the DIY aesthetic, guaranteeing all elements is crafted by us. This is a feature I want to remain faithful to, whatever we scale to. Oh, and I want to appear on a mythical beast each show. Think about how famous musicians do the motorcycle thing? The same idea, but on a mythical creature.”