🔗 Share this article

While plenty of artists have drawn from high fantasy, few have fully embraced the fantasy existence. Admittedly, they could decorate their album sleeves with creatures, imps, captive women and strong fighters, but has any musician ever have to find a lost mythical horn from a frost-covered ground in the midst of winter? Did a performer taken the time peering in the interior of a road transport, mending their own chainmail?

Embracing the Mythos

Formed in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have dealt with both these scenarios and more as they embody their epic fantasies. Starting with heraldic, earworm-heavy songs to eye-popping live shows, outfit creation, videos and cover artwork, they’re more than a heavy metal group as a complete sensory journey.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a costumed concept band,” explains vocalist, guitarist, sword-wielder and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport speeds from a sold-out gig in Cologne to a second one in another town – they have five gigs in the UK currently. “After a couple of performances and received an offer on a Halloween gig, where I made a last-minute decision to dress up. Everything was completely self-made, but we had an amazing time and the atmosphere was electric. I thought, ‘What if we could have so much excitement at every show?’”

Development of Castle Rat

From that point on, the ensemble – which includes Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” together with a medic from history (low-end instrumentalist), proud bloodsucker (six-string player) and mysterious druid (drummer) – haven’t looked back. Their latest album, the group’s sophomore release, brings to mind of classic metal icons uniting to battle their way through a heroic art landscape – a heroic opus that positions them on the brink of greater success.

The release was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her collaborators. “This helped a more powerful project,” she says of the team effort. “I struggled at first – I often experienced a certain amount of accomplishment as a female in music working independently. I’ve had so many times where I finished performing and some guy will say, ‘Those guys compose cool melodies!’ and I respond, ‘Listen – I created all that.’”

Artistry and Imagination

With their growing popularity has grown, so has the scope of their stage presentation. “My motto is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. At first, she had been on course for a art school education before balking at the possibility of so much debt. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s numerous methods to express artistry,” she says. “From crafting disguises, outfit planning, figuring out video editing clips … it’s all stuff I have no experience with, but it’s fun to discover as we go.”

Even though creating the group’s detailed mythology (“Everyone’s urging me to write it down because all the ideas are,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and stitching garments wasn’t enough, the singer self-educated how to make chainmail – no mean feat, though she admittedly delegated her all-new reptilian-inspired outfit to a expert from NYC. “It seems like actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

As for audiences? They embraced the theatrical gore, toy blades and handmade props with similar excitement as the group. “We performed a show in the Motor City and it looked like a medieval event,” reminisces Riley fondly. “All attendees was in cloaks, sheepskin, metal wear.”

This isn’t to say, however, that traveling lifestyle as fantasy adventurers has been smooth. “Each item is always failing and ends up fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Additionally I get endless ideas as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we’re traveling in a vehicle with only so much space. It’s a fascinating test to make it feel like a larger-than-life story, then compress it into a small space.”

We faced additional practical issues that would never have plagued legendary fantasy heroes. “We experienced an ‘disastrous’ moment when we appeared at SonicBlast festival in the European country and my luggage – which had my weapon in it – went missing,” says Riley. “This became a nightmare, because there is no an alternative version of the concert where I lack a sword.”

Upcoming Plans

As a genuine leader, Riley is enthusiastic about the what’s next. “My goal is to the top – we should play large venues,” she says. “The main aspect that’s really important to me is keeping the handmade style, making sure all elements is crafted by us. It’s a component I want to stay authentic to, whatever we scale to. Oh, and I want to make an entrance on a magical horse every night. Think about how legends use vehicles in concerts? The same idea, but using a unicorn.”