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While many rockers have borrowed from epic fantasy, rarely any have fully embraced the enchanted way of life. Certainly, they might decorate their record jackets with ghouls, goblins, captive women and brawny barbarians, but did a member ever been forced to recover a missing horn from a unicorn from a frost-covered ground in the depths of winter? Did a performer spent time peering in the back of a road transport, fixing their own armor?

Immersed in the Legend

Created in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have encountered such situations and others as they act out their heroic dreams. Starting with knightly, memorable tunes to stunning live shows, costume design, music videos and cover artwork, they’re not so much a heavy metal group as a total artistic immersion.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a outfit with characters,” explains singer, guitar player, blade-handler and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport drives from a full-capacity concert in Cologne to another in Aschaffenburg – they have multiple performances in the UK now. “We played two shows and got booked on a spooky event, where I chose at the final moment to wear a costume. The entire setup was completely self-made, but we had a blast and the atmosphere was unforgettable. It occurred to me, ‘Imagine if we could have such enjoyment at every show?’”

Development of Castle Rat

Since then, the band – which showcases Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” alongside a medic from history (low-end instrumentalist), haughty vampire (lead guitarist) and mysterious druid (drummer) – haven’t looked back. The Bestiary, the band’s second album, brings to mind of classic metal icons uniting to battle their way through a mythical painted realm – a heroic opus that sets them on the brink of bigger achievements.

The release was a first for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her fellow members. “That contributed to a much better project,” she says of the collaborative process. “It was challenging at first – I’d always felt a specific level of pride as a woman in music doing everything solo. I’ve had numerous occasions where after a show and an audience member will say, ‘The band write great riffs!’ and I respond, ‘Wait – I composed all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

As the band’s stature has grown, so has the breadth of their stage presentation. “My motto is always that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. Initially, she was on track for a art school education before pulling back at the prospect of financial burden. “The exciting part about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to apply artistry,” she says. “Whether it’s creating face coverings, outfit planning, learning how to edit clips … it’s all stuff I don’t know how to do, but it’s exciting to learn in the moment.”

Even though creating the band’s intricate lore (“People are encouraging me to record it because everything is stored,” Riley says, tapping her head) and making clothing were insufficient, the singer self-educated how to craft metal mesh – a challenging endeavor, though she admittedly delegated her completely original scale armor design to a professional in the city. “It seems like actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

Regarding the fans? They loved the stage blood, toy blades and crafted rodent bones with equal enthusiasm as the group. “We had a concert in Detroit and it looked like a Renaissance fair,” reminisces Riley happily. “All attendees was in capes, animal hides, armor.”

That’s not to imply, nevertheless, that traveling lifestyle as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been plain sailing. “Each item is constantly breaking and gets fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Additionally I come up with countless concepts as to how I want things to look, but we’re traveling in a bus with limited room. It’s a unique problem to give the sense like a grand epic, then store it into a small space.”

We’ve encountered other logistical problems that wouldn’t have troubled mythic characters. “We did have an ‘disastrous’ moment when we performed at a Portuguese festival in Portugal and my luggage – which had my weapon in it – went missing,” says Riley. “This became a nightmare, because we don’t have an backup plan of the show where I don’t have a sword.”

Goals Ahead

As a genuine leader, Riley is gung-ho about the what’s next. “My goal is all the way – I dream of huge arenas,” she says. “The only thing that’s truly essential to me is keeping the handmade style, ensuring everything is crafted by us. It’s a component I want to remain faithful to, no matter what we grow into. Additionally, I wish to ride out on a magical horse each show. Remember how legends use vehicles in concerts? That, but using a unicorn.”