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Although plenty of rockers have drawn from epic fantasy, only a handful have truly lived the mythical lifestyle. Sure, they may adorn their album sleeves with creatures, imps, manacled maidens and brawny barbarians, but has any musician ever been forced to retrieve a misplaced horn from a unicorn from a snowy field in the midst of winter? Did a guitarist taken the time peering in the rear of a road transport, mending their own chainmail?

Immersed in the Legend

Established in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have dealt with such situations and additional ones as they live out their grand tales. Starting with heraldic, memorable tunes to stunning concerts, attire styling, videos and cover artwork, they’re more than a metal band as a complete sensory journey.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a costumed concept band,” states vocalist, guitarist, sword-wielder and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van travels from a sold-out gig in a German city to one more in Aschaffenburg – they are playing several shows in the UK now. “After a couple of performances and received an offer on a spooky event, where I chose at the final moment to wear a costume. Everything was completely self-made, but we had so much fun and the atmosphere was electric. It occurred to me, ‘Imagine if we could have such enjoyment always?’”

The Band’s Evolution

Since then, the group – which features Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” together with a plague doctor (bass player), haughty vampire (lead guitarist) and enigmatic nature priest (drummer) – never turned back. Their latest album, the band’s second album, conjures visions of legendary heavy bands joining forces to struggle onward through a mythical painted realm – a grand composition that sets them on the verge of far grander things.

This album was a first for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her fellow members. “It made it a lot stronger record,” she says of the team effort. “I struggled at first – There was a sense of a certain amount of satisfaction being a woman in music working independently. There’ve been multiple instances where after a show and a person will say, ‘Those guys compose cool melodies!’ and I respond, ‘Listen – I created all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

As the band’s stature has grown, so has the scope of their production design. “The saying I live by is always that if an effort matters, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton laughs. At first, she had been on course for a art school education before hesitating at the idea of so much debt. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to demonstrate creativity,” she says. “From crafting disguises, costume design, figuring out video editing song visuals … these are all things I am unfamiliar with, but it’s exciting to discover on the fly.”

As if creating the ensemble’s complex backstory (“The team is pushing me to record it because it’s all in here,” Riley says, indicating her head) and making clothing wasn’t enough, the singer self-educated how to create armor – a challenging endeavor, though she admittedly left her brand-new reptilian-inspired outfit to a expert from NYC. “It’s as if actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Fan Response and Obstacles

What about the crowd? They loved the stage blood, foam swords and crafted rodent bones with as much gusto as the group. “We played a concert in the Motor City and it seemed like a historical festival,” remembers Riley happily. “Everyone was in cloaks, animal hides, armor.”

That’s not to imply, nevertheless, that life on the road as fantasy adventurers has been easy. “Everything is frequently damaged and becomes repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Plus I come up with endless ideas as to how I desire the presentation, but we are on the move in a van with restricted capacity. It’s an interesting challenge to make it feel like a grand epic, then compress it into nothing.”

There have been further organizational challenges that didn’t affect fictional warriors. “We did have an ‘oh shit’ moment when we appeared at a Portuguese festival in the European country and my suitcase – which had my blade in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “This became a terrible situation, because there’s not an backup plan of the concert where I am without a weapon.”

Upcoming Plans

As a genuine leader, Riley is eager about the days to come. “I want to go all the way – I dream of large venues,” she says. “The only thing that’s really important to me is maintaining the self-crafted look, ensuring everything is custom-made. That’s an element I want to remain faithful to, regardless of we grow into. Oh, and I desire to appear on a unicorn each show. Think about how legends do the motorcycle thing? Exactly that, but on a mythical creature.”