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Although numerous musicians have taken inspiration from high fantasy, only a handful have truly lived the fantasy lifestyle. Sure, they might embellish their album sleeves with creatures, goblins, chained damsels and strong fighters, but has any musician ever been forced to find a lost horn from a unicorn from a wintry landscape in the depths of winter? Has a performer spent time straining their eyes in the back of a traveling vehicle, fixing their own chainmail?

Immersed in the Legend

Created in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have had to face both these scenarios and additional ones as they embody their epic fantasies. Starting with heraldic, catchy tunes to stunning live shows, costume design, videos and album art, they’re more than a heavy metal group as a complete sensory journey.

“It wasn’t planned to be a themed musical group,” says vocalist, guitarist, blade-handler and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle speeds from a sold-out gig in Cologne to one more in Aschaffenburg – they are playing multiple performances in the UK currently. “Initially, we performed twice and received an offer on a spooky event, where I decided spontaneously to put on an outfit. The entire setup was super-DIY, but we had a blast and the energy was electric. It occurred to me, ‘How about if we could have this much fun at every show?’”

Growth of the Group

After that, the ensemble – which features Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” joined by a plague doctor (bassist), proud bloodsucker (lead guitarist) and mysterious druid (rhythm keeper) – never turned back. The Bestiary, the follow-up record, evokes images of classic metal icons uniting to struggle onward through a Frank Frazetta fantasy world – a grand composition that sets them on the brink of bigger achievements.

This album was a first for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her bandmates. “This helped a lot stronger album,” she says of the team effort. “I struggled at first – I’d always felt a certain amount of pride as a female in music going it alone. I’ve had multiple instances where I finished performing and some guy will say, ‘The other members create awesome guitar parts!’ and I respond, ‘Listen – I composed all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

With their growing popularity has expanded, so has the scope of their production design. “My philosophy is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. At first, she had been on track for a fine art degree before hesitating at the possibility of heavy loans. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s numerous methods to apply artistic expression,” she says. “From making masks, attire creation, learning how to edit clips … everything is I have no experience with, but it’s fun to figure it out in the moment.”

As if building the group’s detailed mythology (“The team is pushing me to record it because it’s all in here,” Riley says, indicating her head) and making clothing didn’t suffice, the singer taught herself how to create armor – a difficult task, though she admittedly entrusted her brand-new scalemail look to a New York-based specialist. “It’s as if actual armour,” she grins.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

What about the crowd? They took to the fake blood, toy blades and handmade props with equal enthusiasm as the group. “We performed a gig in the Motor City and it seemed like a medieval event,” reminisces Riley fondly. “All attendees was in capes, animal hides, chainmail.”

However, this doesn’t mean, nevertheless, that touring existence as mythical wanderers has been plain sailing. “Everything is constantly breaking and becomes fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Plus I’ll have countless concepts as to how I desire the presentation, but we tour in a vehicle with limited room. It’s a unique problem to make it feel like a larger-than-life story, then compress it into nothing.”

We faced additional practical issues that wouldn’t have troubled fictional warriors. “There was an ‘oh shit’ moment when we played a music event in the European country and my baggage – which had my blade in it – went missing,” says Riley. “That was a nightmare, because there is no an different option of the show where I don’t have a sword.”

Upcoming Plans

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is eager about the what’s next. “I aim to reach all the way – I dream of huge arenas,” she says. “The main aspect that’s truly essential to me is keeping the handmade style, ensuring each detail is custom-made. That’s an element I want to stay authentic to, regardless of we scale to. Additionally, I want to make an entrance on a mythical beast at all performances. You know how some artists use vehicles in concerts? Exactly that, but using a unicorn.”