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Although numerous artists have drawn from fantasy lore, few have genuinely embodied the enchanted lifestyle. Admittedly, they might embellish their record jackets with creatures, imps, chained damsels and muscular warriors, but has any musician ever needed to retrieve a lost mythical horn from a wintry landscape in the heart of winter? Has a guitarist devoted hours squinting in the rear of a tour bus, repairing their own armor?

Living the Fantasy

Created in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have had to face such situations and more as they act out their grand tales. From heraldic, memorable tunes to eye-popping performances, attire styling, visuals and cover artwork, they’re more than a heavy metal group as a complete sensory journey.

“It wasn’t planned to be a outfit with characters,” says singer, guitar player, blade-handler and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van speeds from a full-capacity concert in Cologne to one more in another town – they have several shows in the UK this week. “Initially, we performed twice and were scheduled on a Halloween gig, where I chose at the final moment to wear a costume. The entire setup was completely self-made, but we had an amazing time and the feeling in the room was unforgettable. I realized, ‘How about if we could have so much excitement every time?’”

Development of Castle Rat

Since then, the band – which includes Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” together with a plague doctor (bassist), haughty vampire (guitarist) and secretive shaman (percussionist) – continued forward. The Bestiary, the group’s sophomore release, brings to mind of classic metal icons collaborating to battle their way through a heroic art landscape – a epic masterpiece that sets them on the edge of greater success.

The release was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her bandmates. “It made it a lot stronger project,” she says of the team effort. “I struggled at first – I often experienced a specific level of satisfaction being a woman in music going it alone. There have been so many times where after a show and some guy will say, ‘The other members create awesome guitar parts!’ and I respond, ‘Wait – I created all that.’”

Artistry and Imagination

With their growing popularity has increased, so has the scale of their production design. “My motto is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. At first, she had been on track for a fine art degree before balking at the idea of so much debt. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to demonstrate creativity,” she says. “From creating face coverings, outfit planning, figuring out video editing song visuals … it’s all stuff I have no experience with, but it’s enjoyable to figure it out as we go.”

Even though building the band’s intricate lore (“The team is pushing me to write it down because it’s all in here,” Riley says, tapping her head) and sewing costumes didn’t suffice, the singer taught herself how to craft metal mesh – no mean feat, though she confessedly delegated her completely original scalemail look to a New York-based specialist. “It’s as if actual armour,” she grins.

Fan Response and Obstacles

What about the crowd? They embraced the theatrical gore, foam swords and handmade props with similar excitement as the band. “We played a concert in the Motor City and it looked like a historical festival,” recalls Riley happily. “All attendees was in robes, animal hides, armor.”

However, this doesn’t mean, however, that traveling lifestyle as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been plain sailing. “All our gear is always failing and gets repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Moreover I get endless ideas as to how I desire the presentation, but we tour in a bus with restricted capacity. It’s a unique problem to create the impression like a mythic tale, then compress it into minimal luggage.”

We’ve encountered other logistical problems that didn’t affect fictional warriors. “We experienced an ‘oh shit’ moment when we appeared at a music event in Portugal and my suitcase – which had my sword in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “This became a nightmare, because there’s not an different option of the show where I don’t have a sword.”

Goals Ahead

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is enthusiastic about the what’s next. “My goal is to the top – let’s do stadiums,” she says. “The key element that’s deeply meaningful to me is keeping the self-crafted look, guaranteeing each detail is custom-made. That’s an element I want to stay authentic to, whatever we scale to. Oh, and I desire to appear on a unicorn at all performances. Think about how legends do the motorcycle thing? That, but on a mythical creature.”