🔗 Share this article

While many musicians have taken inspiration from epic fantasy, rarely any have fully embraced the fantasy way of life. Admittedly, they might decorate their album sleeves with ghouls, imps, chained damsels and muscular warriors, but has an artist ever been forced to find a misplaced mythical horn from a snowy field in the midst of winter? Did a guitarist spent time squinting in the back of a road transport, mending their own chainmail?

Living the Fantasy

Established in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have dealt with these exact challenges and more as they act out their heroic dreams. Starting with knightly, earworm-heavy songs to stunning performances, costume design, visuals and album art, they’re not just a metal band as a complete sensory journey.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a outfit with characters,” explains vocalist, guitarist, sword-carrier and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle speeds from a full-capacity concert in Cologne to one more in another town – they’re also doing several shows in the UK currently. “We played two shows and received an offer on a spooky event, where I decided spontaneously to wear a costume. Everything was highly handmade, but we had so much fun and the atmosphere was electric. It occurred to me, ‘How about if we could have so much excitement every time?’”

Growth of the Group

Since then, the group – which showcases Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” joined by a pestilence physician (bass player), haughty vampire (lead guitarist) and secretive shaman (drummer) – haven’t looked back. Their latest album, the follow-up record, brings to mind of classic metal icons joining forces to fight their path through a heroic art landscape – a epic masterpiece that positions them on the edge of bigger achievements.

The Bestiary was a first for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her collaborators. “It made it a lot stronger album,” she says of the team effort. “It was challenging at first – There was a sense of a certain amount of satisfaction as a woman in music going it alone. I’ve had multiple instances where I finished performing 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 their fame has increased, so has the breadth of their stage presentation. “The saying I live by is always that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. At first, she had been on path for a fine art degree before pulling back at the idea of so much debt. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to apply creativity,” she says. “Be it creating face coverings, attire creation, figuring out video editing song visuals … it’s all stuff I don’t know how to do, but it’s exciting to discover in the moment.”

As if developing the band’s intricate lore (“The team is pushing me to write it down because it’s all in here,” Riley says, tapping her head) and sewing costumes were insufficient, the vocalist taught herself how to make chainmail – a difficult task, though she admittedly left her completely original scalemail look to a professional in the city. “It’s as if actual armour,” she beams.

Fan Response and Obstacles

Regarding the fans? They took to the stage blood, toy blades and papier-mache rat skulls with equal enthusiasm as the band. “We performed a concert in Detroit and it looked like a historical festival,” remembers Riley with affection. “The whole crowd was in cloaks, wool garments, metal wear.”

This isn’t to say, however, that touring existence as fantasy adventurers has been plain sailing. “Each item is always failing and ends up fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Additionally I’ll have numerous thoughts as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we are on the move in a van with restricted capacity. It’s a unique problem to make it feel like a mythic tale, then store it into nothing.”

We faced other logistical problems that didn’t affect legendary fantasy heroes. “We experienced an ‘oh shit’ moment when we performed at a music event in the European country and my baggage – which had my weapon in it – got lost,” says Riley. “It was a worst-case scenario, because there’s not an alternative version of the show where I don’t have a blade.”

Upcoming Plans

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is enthusiastic about the what’s next. “I want to go all the way – let’s do large venues,” she says. “The only thing that’s really important to me is keeping the handmade style, guaranteeing everything is custom-made. That’s an element I want to keep true to, whatever we achieve. Plus, I want to ride out on a mythical beast every night. Remember how famous musicians ride bikes on stage? That, but with a unicorn.”