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Although plenty of rockers have taken inspiration from epic fantasy, few have genuinely embodied the fantasy way of life. Sure, they may decorate their record jackets with creatures, goblins, manacled maidens and muscular warriors, but has any musician ever have to retrieve a missing unicorn horn from a snowy field in the midst of winter? Did anyone devoted hours straining their eyes in the back of a traveling vehicle, fixing their own metal mesh?

Immersed in the Legend

Established in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have had to face such situations and additional ones as they act out their epic fantasies. Starting with medieval-inspired, memorable tunes to eye-popping performances, costume design, music videos and record designs, they’re not just a heavy metal group as a full immersive experience.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a themed musical group,” explains vocalist, guitarist, sword-carrier and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle speeds from a full-capacity concert in Cologne to one more in Aschaffenburg – they’re also doing multiple performances in the UK currently. “We played two shows and were scheduled on a spooky event, where I made a last-minute decision to dress up. Everything was highly handmade, but we had a blast and the feeling in the room was incredible. I realized, ‘Imagine if we could have this much fun always?’”

The Band’s Evolution

After that, the band – which includes Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” alongside a pestilence physician (low-end instrumentalist), haughty vampire (lead guitarist) and mysterious druid (drummer) – continued forward. Their latest album, the group’s sophomore release, brings to mind of famous rock groups collaborating to struggle onward through a mythical painted realm – a grand composition that sets them on the verge of far grander things.

The Bestiary was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her bandmates. “This helped a lot stronger album,” she says of the collaborative process. “It was challenging at first – There was a sense of a particular degree of pride being a woman in music working independently. There have been numerous occasions where I finished performing and some guy will say, ‘The band create awesome guitar parts!’ and I’m like, ‘Hey – I composed all that.’”

Artistry and Imagination

With their growing popularity has increased, so has the scope of their visual elements. “The saying I live by is always that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. At first, she had been on path for a fine art degree before hesitating at the possibility of financial burden. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to apply artistic expression,” she says. “Be it crafting disguises, costume design, figuring out video editing song visuals … these are all things I have no experience with, but it’s exciting to figure it out on the fly.”

Even though creating the ensemble’s complex backstory (“Everyone’s urging me to record it because all the ideas are,” Riley says, tapping her head) and stitching garments didn’t suffice, the singer taught herself how to craft metal mesh – a difficult task, though she confessedly delegated her all-new scale armor design to a expert from NYC. “It feels like actual armour,” she beams.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

Regarding the fans? They loved the fake blood, foam swords and papier-mache rat skulls with as much gusto as the band. “We played a show in Detroit and it resembled a medieval event,” reminisces Riley happily. “Everyone was in capes, animal hides, chainmail.”

That’s not to imply, nevertheless, that life on the road as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been easy. “Everything is constantly breaking and becomes fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Additionally I’ll have countless concepts as to how I want things to look, but we tour in a bus with limited room. It’s a unique problem to give the sense like a grand epic, then compress it into nothing.”

There have been other logistical problems that wouldn’t have troubled fictional warriors. “We did have an ‘uh-oh’ moment when we appeared at a Portuguese festival in the European country and my luggage – which had my weapon in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “It was a nightmare, because there’s not an backup plan of the performance where I am without a blade.”

Upcoming Plans

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is gung-ho about the what’s next. “My goal is as far as possible – let’s do huge arenas,” she says. “The only thing that’s deeply meaningful to me is maintaining the handmade style, making sure all elements is custom-made. That’s an element I want to remain faithful to, no matter what we scale to. Plus, I wish to appear on a unicorn at all performances. Remember how some artists do the motorcycle thing? The same idea, but using a unicorn.”