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While plenty of artists have borrowed from fantasy lore, rarely any have fully embraced the enchanted lifestyle. Admittedly, they could decorate their record jackets with monsters, imps, manacled maidens and brawny barbarians, but has any musician ever needed to recover a lost mythical horn from a snowy field in the midst of winter? Has a performer taken the time squinting in the back of a tour bus, fixing their own metal mesh?

Living the Fantasy

Established in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have dealt with both these scenarios and others as they act out their heroic dreams. From heraldic, earworm-heavy tunes to stunning concerts, costume design, music videos and cover artwork, they’re not so much a metal band as a full immersive experience.

“It wasn’t planned to be a costumed concept band,” states vocalist, guitar player, sword-wielder and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport drives from a full-capacity concert in Cologne to another in Aschaffenburg – they’re also doing five gigs in the UK now. “We played two shows and received an offer on a October show, where I decided spontaneously to wear a costume. It was all highly handmade, but we had an amazing time and the energy was electric. I thought, ‘Imagine if we could have this much fun at every show?’”

Growth of the Group

After that, the band – which features Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” together with a medic from history (bass player), aristocratic undead (six-string player) and mysterious druid (rhythm keeper) – never turned back. Their latest album, the band’s second album, conjures visions of classic metal icons collaborating to struggle onward through a heroic art landscape – a epic masterpiece that sets them on the edge of greater success.

This album was a first for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her fellow members. “It made it a more powerful project,” she says of the team effort. “It was challenging at first – I often experienced a certain amount of pride being a woman in music working independently. I’ve had numerous occasions where I’ve got off stage and some guy will say, ‘Those guys write great riffs!’ and I’m like, ‘Hey – I created all that.’”

Artistry and Imagination

As the band’s stature 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 laughs. At first, she had been on course for a university studies in art before hesitating at the possibility of heavy loans. “The exciting part about Castle Rat is there’s numerous methods to express creativity,” she says. “Be it crafting disguises, outfit planning, figuring out video editing song visuals … everything is I am unfamiliar with, but it’s enjoyable to learn as we go.”

As if creating the ensemble’s complex backstory (“People are encouraging me to document it because it’s all in here,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and making clothing wasn’t enough, the vocalist learned on her own how to make chainmail – a challenging endeavor, though she confessedly left her all-new scalemail look to a professional in the city. “It seems like actual armour,” she grins.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

Regarding the fans? They loved the stage blood, soft weapons and crafted rodent bones with equal enthusiasm as the group. “We played a show in the Motor City and it resembled a Renaissance fair,” recalls Riley fondly. “The whole crowd was in capes, wool garments, chainmail.”

That’s not to imply, nevertheless, that life on the road as fantasy adventurers has been plain sailing. “Each item is frequently damaged and gets fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Moreover I come up with numerous thoughts as to how I desire the presentation, but we are on the move in a van with only so much space. It’s a fascinating test to give the sense like a larger-than-life story, then compress it into a small space.”

We faced further organizational challenges that wouldn’t have troubled legendary fantasy heroes. “We did have an ‘uh-oh’ moment when we played SonicBlast festival in Portugal and my luggage – which had my blade in it – got lost,” says Riley. “This became a terrible situation, because we don’t have an different option of the show where I don’t have a weapon.”

Upcoming Plans

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is enthusiastic about the future. “I aim to reach as far as possible – we should play huge arenas,” she says. “The only thing that’s deeply meaningful to me is keeping the self-crafted look, guaranteeing each detail is handmade. That’s an element I want to remain faithful to, whatever we achieve. Oh, and I wish to make an entrance on a magical horse every night. Think about how famous musicians do the motorcycle thing? That, but on a mythical creature.”