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While many musicians have taken inspiration from fantasy lore, only a handful have fully embraced the mythical existence. Sure, they may decorate their album sleeves with monsters, goblins, chained damsels and strong fighters, but did a member ever have to retrieve a lost horn from a unicorn from a wintry landscape in the depths of winter? Has a performer devoted hours squinting in the rear of a traveling vehicle, fixing their own armor?

Living the Fantasy

Created in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have dealt with these exact challenges and others as they act out their grand tales. From heraldic, earworm-heavy tunes to breathtaking concerts, outfit creation, visuals and album art, they’re not just a metal band as a full immersive experience.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a outfit with characters,” states singer, guitar player, sword-carrier and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport speeds from a packed show in a German city to one more in Aschaffenburg – they have several shows in the UK this week. “After a couple of performances and got booked on a October show, where I made a last-minute decision to dress up. It was all super-DIY, but we had an amazing time and the feeling in the room was incredible. I realized, ‘What if we could have so much excitement at every show?’”

Growth of the Group

Since then, the ensemble – which includes Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” alongside a pestilence physician (bassist), aristocratic undead (six-string player) and mysterious druid (rhythm keeper) – haven’t looked back. The Bestiary, the follow-up record, conjures visions of famous rock groups joining forces to battle their way through a heroic art landscape – a heroic opus that positions them on the edge of bigger achievements.

This album was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her bandmates. “This helped a more powerful project,” she says of the team effort. “I had difficulty at first – I often experienced a specific level of accomplishment as a woman in music going it alone. There have been multiple instances where after a show and a person will say, ‘The other members write great riffs!’ and I’m like, ‘Hey – I wrote all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

As the band’s stature has expanded, so has the scale of their visual elements. “The saying I live by is always that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton laughs. At first, she had been on path for a art school education before balking at the idea of financial burden. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s numerous methods to demonstrate artistry,” she says. “Be it making masks, attire creation, mastering post-production clips … everything is I am unfamiliar with, but it’s fun to learn on the fly.”

Even though developing the ensemble’s complex backstory (“Everyone’s urging me to record it because it’s all in here,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and stitching garments wasn’t enough, the singer self-educated how to create armor – no mean feat, though she admittedly left her all-new reptilian-inspired outfit to a New York-based specialist. “It seems like actual armour,” she grins.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

As for audiences? They embraced the theatrical gore, foam swords and papier-mache rat skulls with as much gusto as the musicians. “We performed a show in Detroit and it looked like a medieval event,” remembers Riley happily. “The whole crowd was in capes, wool garments, armor.”

That’s not to imply, however, that life on the road as fantasy adventurers has been plain sailing. “Each item is constantly breaking and becomes fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Additionally I come up with endless ideas as to how I want things to look, but we tour in a vehicle with only so much space. It’s an interesting challenge to give the sense like a larger-than-life story, then store it into minimal luggage.”

We faced other logistical problems that wouldn’t have troubled fictional warriors. “We experienced an ‘disastrous’ moment when we played SonicBlast festival in the European country and my luggage – which had my sword in it – went missing,” says Riley. “It was a worst-case scenario, because we don’t have an different option of the concert where I am without a sword.”

Upcoming Plans

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is gung-ho about the what’s next. “I aim to reach as far as possible – I dream of stadiums,” she says. “The main aspect that’s truly essential to me is keeping the DIY aesthetic, making sure each detail is handmade. This is a feature I want to remain faithful to, regardless of we grow into. Additionally, I desire to ride out on a mythical beast each show. Remember how famous musicians do the motorcycle thing? Exactly that, but with a unicorn.”