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While numerous rockers have drawn from high fantasy, only a handful have truly lived the mythical lifestyle. Admittedly, they may adorn their album sleeves with ghouls, goblins, captive women and strong fighters, but did a member ever have to find a missing unicorn horn from a wintry landscape in the heart of winter? Has a guitarist spent time straining their eyes in the back of a road transport, fixing their own metal mesh?

Embracing the Mythos

Created in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have encountered such situations and more as they live out their epic fantasies. From medieval-inspired, catchy anthems to stunning performances, costume design, music videos and record designs, they’re more than a heavy metal group as a complete sensory journey.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a costumed concept band,” states vocalist, guitar player, sword-wielder and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle speeds from a sold-out gig in Cologne to another in another town – they are playing multiple performances in the UK this week. “After a couple of performances and got booked on a spooky event, where I made a last-minute decision to put on an outfit. It was all super-DIY, but we had so much fun and the feeling in the room was incredible. I thought, ‘Imagine if we could have such enjoyment at every show?’”

The Band’s Evolution

From that point on, the group – which showcases Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” joined by a plague doctor (bass player), aristocratic undead (six-string player) and secretive shaman (drummer) – never turned back. Their latest album, the band’s second album, evokes images of classic metal icons collaborating to fight their path through a mythical painted realm – a grand composition that places them on the edge of greater success.

The Bestiary was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her collaborators. “That contributed to a more powerful project,” she says of the team effort. “I struggled at first – I often experienced a specific level of pride being a woman in music going it alone. There have been numerous occasions where I’ve got off stage and some guy will say, ‘The other members write great riffs!’ and I respond, ‘Hey – I composed all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

With their growing popularity has grown, so has the scale of their visual elements. “The saying I live by is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton laughs. Initially, she was on path for a fine art degree before pulling back at the prospect of financial burden. “The exciting part about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to demonstrate creativity,” she says. “Be it creating face coverings, outfit planning, learning how to edit song visuals … it’s all stuff I have no experience with, but it’s enjoyable to learn as we go.”

As if creating the group’s detailed mythology (“People are encouraging me to record it because all the ideas are,” Riley says, tapping her head) and stitching garments were insufficient, the vocalist self-educated how to make chainmail – a challenging endeavor, though she admittedly delegated her brand-new scalemail look to a professional in the city. “It’s as if actual armour,” she grins.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

What about the crowd? They took to the stage blood, soft weapons and handmade props with similar excitement as the group. “We played a show in Detroit and it resembled a medieval event,” recalls Riley happily. “All attendees was in robes, wool garments, armor.”

However, this doesn’t mean, nevertheless, that traveling lifestyle as mythical wanderers has been plain sailing. “Each item is constantly breaking and becomes fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Plus I get numerous thoughts as to how I want things to look, but we tour in a vehicle with restricted capacity. It’s a unique problem to create the impression like a grand epic, then store it into nothing.”

There have been other logistical problems that would never have plagued legendary fantasy heroes. “We did have an ‘disastrous’ moment when we played a music event in the European country and my suitcase – which had my blade in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “This became a worst-case scenario, because there’s not an different option of the concert where I am without a blade.”

Goals Ahead

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is enthusiastic about the days to come. “My goal is as far as possible – I dream of large venues,” she says. “The only thing that’s really important to me is maintaining the self-crafted look, making sure each detail is crafted by us. It’s a component I want to remain faithful to, no matter what we grow into. Additionally, I want to appear on a magical horse each show. Remember how legends ride bikes on stage? Exactly that, but on a mythical creature.”