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Although numerous rockers have borrowed from high fantasy, rarely any have truly lived the mythical way of life. Certainly, they could embellish their album sleeves with monsters, beasts, captive women and strong fighters, but did a member ever needed to recover a lost unicorn horn from a frost-covered ground in the midst of winter? Did anyone spent time peering in the back of a traveling vehicle, fixing their own armor?

Immersed in the Legend

Formed in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have had to face these exact challenges and additional ones as they act out their grand tales. From knightly, catchy songs to stunning concerts, attire styling, music videos and album art, they’re more than a metal band as a total artistic immersion.

“It wasn’t planned to be a outfit with characters,” explains singer, guitar player, blade-handler and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van travels from a sold-out gig in a German city to another in Aschaffenburg – they have five gigs in the UK this week. “After a couple of performances and got booked on a October show, where I decided spontaneously to put on an outfit. Everything was highly handmade, but we had an amazing time and the feeling in the room was unforgettable. I realized, ‘What if we could have so much excitement at every show?’”

Development of Castle Rat

Since then, the band – which features Pinkerton as the “Rat Queen” joined by a medic from history (bassist), proud bloodsucker (guitarist) and enigmatic nature priest (rhythm keeper) – never turned back. The Bestiary, the group’s sophomore release, brings to mind of classic metal icons joining forces to struggle onward through a mythical painted realm – a epic masterpiece that positions them on the verge of greater success.

This album was a first for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her fellow members. “It made it a more powerful album,” she says of the group work. “I had difficulty at first – I often experienced a particular degree of pride being a woman in music working independently. I’ve had numerous occasions where I’ve got off stage and an audience member will say, ‘The band compose cool melodies!’ and I respond, ‘Wait – I composed all that.’”

Artistry and Imagination

As their fame has grown, so has the breadth of their stage presentation. “My philosophy is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. Initially, she was on track for a university studies in art before hesitating at the prospect of heavy loans. “The exciting part about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to express artistry,” she says. “Be it creating face coverings, outfit planning, figuring out video editing song visuals … everything is I don’t know how to do, but it’s fun to learn in the moment.”

Even though creating the ensemble’s complex backstory (“People are encouraging me to write it down because all the ideas are,” Riley says, tapping her head) and making clothing 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 New York-based specialist. “It feels like actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

As for audiences? They took to the theatrical gore, soft weapons and papier-mache rat skulls with as much gusto as the band. “We performed a gig in Detroit and it seemed like a medieval event,” reminisces Riley with affection. “All attendees was in capes, sheepskin, armor.”

However, this doesn’t mean, however, that traveling lifestyle as mythical wanderers has been plain sailing. “All our gear is always failing and becomes repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Plus I’ll have endless ideas as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we’re traveling in a bus with restricted capacity. It’s a unique problem to make it feel like a grand epic, then store it into nothing.”

We’ve encountered other logistical problems that would never have plagued mythic characters. “We did have an ‘oh shit’ moment when we appeared at SonicBlast festival in the European country and my suitcase – which had my weapon in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “This became a terrible situation, because there is no an different option of the performance where I am without a blade.”

Goals Ahead

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is gung-ho about the days to come. “My goal is to the top – I dream of large venues,” she says. “The key element that’s truly essential to me is maintaining the self-crafted look, guaranteeing each detail is handmade. It’s a component I want to remain faithful to, no matter what we grow into. Plus, I desire to appear on a unicorn every night. Think about how some artists use vehicles in concerts? Exactly that, but with a unicorn.”