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While plenty of rockers have taken inspiration from epic fantasy, rarely any have fully embraced the fantasy lifestyle. Admittedly, they may embellish their record jackets with ghouls, beasts, captive women and muscular warriors, but did a member ever have to recover a missing unicorn horn from a wintry landscape in the heart of winter? Has anyone devoted hours peering in the interior of a road transport, mending their own armor?

Living the Fantasy

Created in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have encountered both these scenarios and additional ones as they embody their heroic dreams. Starting with knightly, catchy anthems to breathtaking live shows, outfit creation, visuals and album art, they’re more than a heavy metal group as a total artistic immersion.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a themed musical group,” states vocalist, guitar player, sword-wielder and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van travels from a full-capacity concert in Cologne to a second one in another town – they’re also doing several shows in the UK this week. “Initially, we performed twice and received an offer on a spooky event, where I made a last-minute decision to put on an outfit. The entire setup was completely self-made, but we had a blast and the feeling in the room was unforgettable. It occurred to me, ‘How about if we could have this much fun at every show?’”

The Band’s Evolution

Since then, the ensemble – which features Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” together with a plague doctor (bassist), haughty vampire (six-string player) and enigmatic nature priest (drummer) – continued forward. The Bestiary, the group’s sophomore release, conjures visions of legendary heavy bands joining forces to fight their path through a heroic art landscape – a grand composition that places them on the verge of bigger achievements.

The Bestiary was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her bandmates. “This helped a more powerful record,” she says of the team effort. “I had difficulty at first – I often experienced a specific level of pride as a female in music doing everything solo. I’ve had so many times where I finished performing and a person will say, ‘The other members compose cool melodies!’ and I think, ‘Wait – I composed all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

As the band’s stature has grown, so has the breadth of their production design. “The saying I live by is always that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton laughs. At first, she had been on path for a university studies in art before pulling back at the idea of so much debt. “The exciting part about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to express artistry,” she says. “From crafting disguises, costume design, learning how to edit music videos … it’s all stuff I am unfamiliar with, but it’s fun to learn as we go.”

As if building the ensemble’s complex backstory (“People are encouraging me to record it because all the ideas are,” Riley says, tapping her head) and stitching garments wasn’t enough, the singer self-educated how to create armor – no mean feat, though she admittedly left her all-new reptilian-inspired outfit to a expert from NYC. “It feels like actual armour,” she grins.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

Regarding the fans? They took to the stage blood, foam swords and crafted rodent bones with equal enthusiasm as the group. “We performed a concert in the Motor City and it resembled a Renaissance fair,” recalls Riley fondly. “Everyone was in capes, wool garments, chainmail.”

However, this doesn’t mean, nevertheless, that life on the road as mythical wanderers has been smooth. “Each item is constantly breaking and ends up repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Additionally I get countless concepts as to how I want things to look, but we tour in a bus with restricted capacity. It’s a unique problem to create the impression like a grand epic, then pack it down into minimal luggage.”

We’ve encountered other logistical problems that would never have plagued legendary fantasy heroes. “We did have an ‘oh shit’ moment when we appeared at a music event in Portugal and my baggage – which had my weapon in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “This became a nightmare, because we don’t have an backup plan of the show where I am without a weapon.”

Goals Ahead

As a genuine leader, Riley is enthusiastic about the days to come. “My goal is as far as possible – we should play huge arenas,” she says. “The main aspect that’s truly essential to me is keeping the handmade style, ensuring each detail is handmade. It’s a component I want to remain faithful to, regardless of we achieve. Additionally, I want to make an entrance on a magical horse every night. Think about how legends use vehicles in concerts? The same idea, but with a unicorn.”