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While many musicians have taken inspiration from epic fantasy, few have fully embraced the mythical existence. Certainly, they may decorate their record jackets with monsters, imps, captive women and muscular warriors, but did a member ever been forced to retrieve a lost unicorn horn from a snowy field in the depths of winter? Did a performer spent time peering in the rear of a tour bus, mending their own armor?

Immersed in the Legend

Established in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have had to face such situations and more as they act out their grand tales. From medieval-inspired, earworm-heavy anthems to breathtaking performances, attire styling, videos and cover artwork, they’re more than a metal band as a complete sensory journey.

“It wasn’t planned to be a outfit with characters,” states vocalist, guitarist, sword-wielder and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van travels from a packed show in a German city to a second one in Aschaffenburg – they’re also doing multiple performances in the UK currently. “Initially, we performed twice and got booked on a spooky event, where I decided spontaneously to dress up. It was all highly handmade, but we had an amazing time and the feeling in the room was incredible. I realized, ‘Imagine if we could have such enjoyment every time?’”

Growth of the Group

After that, the group – which features Pinkerton as the “Rat Queen” joined by a plague doctor (bass player), haughty vampire (guitarist) and enigmatic nature priest (percussionist) – continued forward. The new record, the follow-up record, brings to mind of famous rock groups collaborating to fight their path through a heroic art landscape – a epic masterpiece that sets them on the edge of bigger achievements.

The Bestiary was a first for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her collaborators. “This helped a more powerful album,” she says of the team effort. “It was challenging at first – I often experienced a specific level of satisfaction as a woman in music doing everything solo. There’ve been numerous occasions where I finished performing and a person will say, ‘The other members compose cool melodies!’ and I think, ‘Wait – I composed all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

As the band’s stature has increased, so has the breadth of their production design. “My motto is always that if an effort matters, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton laughs. Initially, she was on course for a university studies in art before pulling back at the prospect of so much debt. “The exciting part about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to express creativity,” she says. “From making masks, attire creation, figuring out video editing clips … these are all things I don’t know how to do, but it’s enjoyable to figure it out in the moment.”

As if creating the band’s intricate lore (“The team is pushing me to record it because all the ideas are,” Riley says, indicating her head) and making clothing wasn’t enough, the vocalist learned on her own how to craft metal mesh – a challenging endeavor, though she confessedly left her brand-new reptilian-inspired outfit to a New York-based specialist. “It feels like actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Fan Response and Obstacles

Regarding the fans? They embraced the fake blood, soft weapons and papier-mache rat skulls with similar excitement as the band. “We played a concert in the Motor City and it seemed like a Renaissance fair,” reminisces Riley fondly. “Everyone was in cloaks, animal hides, metal wear.”

That’s not to imply, however, that touring existence as fantasy adventurers has been plain sailing. “Everything is always failing and becomes duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Additionally I’ll have numerous thoughts as to how I want things to look, but we’re traveling in a vehicle with restricted capacity. It’s a unique problem to make it feel like a larger-than-life story, then compress it into minimal luggage.”

We faced other logistical problems that wouldn’t have troubled mythic characters. “There was an ‘disastrous’ moment when we performed at a Portuguese festival in Portugal and my luggage – which had my blade in it – got lost,” says Riley. “That was a worst-case scenario, because we don’t have an alternative version of the show where I am without a sword.”

Upcoming Plans

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is gung-ho about the what’s next. “I aim to reach to the top – I dream of huge arenas,” she says. “The key element that’s truly essential to me is preserving the DIY aesthetic, guaranteeing each detail is custom-made. That’s an element I want to stay authentic to, no matter what we scale to. Oh, and I want to ride out on a unicorn each show. Remember how famous musicians use vehicles in concerts? The same idea, but on a mythical creature.”