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While plenty of artists have borrowed from epic fantasy, few have genuinely embodied the fantasy existence. Sure, they may embellish their album sleeves with monsters, beasts, chained damsels and strong fighters, but did a member ever needed to recover a missing mythical horn from a snowy field in the depths of winter? Has a guitarist taken the time squinting in the back of a road transport, mending their own metal mesh?

Embracing the Mythos

Formed in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have encountered both these scenarios and additional ones as they embody their heroic dreams. From knightly, catchy songs to breathtaking concerts, attire styling, videos and record designs, they’re not so much a heavy metal group as a total artistic immersion.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a outfit with characters,” explains vocalist, guitar player, blade-handler and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport travels from a packed show in Cologne to a second one in another town – they have multiple performances in the UK this week. “Initially, we performed twice and received an offer on a Halloween gig, where I chose at the final moment to dress up. It was all super-DIY, but we had an amazing time and the energy was incredible. I realized, ‘Imagine if we could have such enjoyment always?’”

Growth of the Group

From that point on, the group – which includes Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” joined by a medic from history (low-end instrumentalist), aristocratic undead (guitarist) and mysterious druid (drummer) – continued forward. The new record, the band’s second album, brings to mind of classic metal icons uniting to battle their way through a Frank Frazetta fantasy world – a heroic opus that places them on the verge of bigger achievements.

The release was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her collaborators. “That contributed to a more powerful album,” she says of the collaborative process. “I had difficulty at first – There was a sense of a particular degree of accomplishment as a woman in music doing everything solo. I’ve had multiple instances where I finished performing and an audience member will say, ‘Those guys create awesome guitar parts!’ and I’m like, ‘Hey – I composed all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

As the band’s stature has grown, so has the scope of their production design. “My motto is always that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. Initially, she was on track for a university studies in art before pulling back at the possibility of so much debt. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to express artistry,” she says. “Be it making masks, costume design, mastering post-production song visuals … everything is I am unfamiliar with, but it’s exciting to discover on the fly.”

Even though developing the band’s intricate lore (“Everyone’s urging me to record it because all the ideas are,” Riley says, indicating her head) and sewing costumes wasn’t enough, the vocalist learned on her own how to make chainmail – a challenging endeavor, though she admittedly delegated her completely original scalemail look to a professional in the city. “It seems like actual armour,” she beams.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

Regarding the fans? They loved the stage blood, toy blades and handmade props with similar excitement as the band. “We had a gig in Detroit and it seemed like a Renaissance fair,” reminisces Riley happily. “The whole crowd was in robes, animal hides, chainmail.”

This isn’t to say, though, that touring existence as mythical wanderers has been plain sailing. “Each item is frequently damaged and gets duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Plus I come up with endless ideas as to how I want things to look, but we’re traveling in a bus with restricted capacity. It’s an interesting challenge to make it feel like a grand epic, then pack it down into minimal luggage.”

There have been additional practical issues that would never have plagued mythic characters. “We did have an ‘oh shit’ moment when we appeared at a Portuguese festival in Portugal and my suitcase – which had my sword in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “That was a worst-case scenario, because there is no an different option of the performance where I lack a blade.”

Goals Ahead

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is enthusiastic about the what’s next. “I want to go all the way – I dream of stadiums,” she says. “The only thing that’s deeply meaningful to me is preserving the DIY aesthetic, making sure all elements is handmade. That’s an element I want to stay authentic to, whatever we scale to. Oh, and I want to appear on a mythical beast at all performances. You know how legends do the motorcycle thing? Exactly that, but on a mythical creature.”