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Although plenty of artists have borrowed from fantasy lore, only a handful have truly lived the fantasy way of life. Sure, they could embellish their album sleeves with monsters, goblins, manacled maidens and brawny barbarians, but has an artist ever needed to recover a lost unicorn horn from a frost-covered ground in the depths of winter? Has anyone taken the time squinting in the interior of a tour bus, repairing their own metal mesh?

Immersed in the Legend

Created in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have had to face such situations and more as they embody their grand tales. From heraldic, catchy tunes to eye-popping live shows, attire styling, visuals 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,” says singer, guitarist, sword-carrier and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van speeds from a packed show in a German city to one more in another town – they’re also doing several shows in the UK this week. “We played two shows and were scheduled on a Halloween gig, where I made a last-minute decision to put on an outfit. It was all highly handmade, but we had an amazing time and the atmosphere was electric. I realized, ‘How about if we could have so much excitement at every show?’”

Development of Castle Rat

After that, the band – which includes Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” alongside a pestilence physician (bassist), proud bloodsucker (lead guitarist) and secretive shaman (rhythm keeper) – never turned back. The new record, the group’s sophomore release, brings to mind of famous rock groups collaborating to battle their way through a heroic art landscape – a epic masterpiece that positions them on the verge of greater success.

This album was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her collaborators. “That contributed to a much better project,” she says of the group work. “I had difficulty at first – I often experienced a particular degree of accomplishment as a woman in music doing everything solo. There’ve been multiple instances where I’ve got off stage and an audience member will say, ‘The other members create awesome guitar parts!’ and I think, ‘Hey – I wrote all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

As their fame has expanded, 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 path for a university studies in art before pulling back at the idea of so much debt. “The exciting part about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to apply artistic expression,” she says. “From creating face coverings, costume design, figuring out video editing clips … these are all things I don’t know how to do, but it’s fun to figure it out on the fly.”

As if creating the band’s intricate lore (“Everyone’s urging me to record it because everything is stored,” Riley says, tapping her head) and stitching garments didn’t suffice, the vocalist learned on her own how to create armor – no mean feat, though she admittedly entrusted her brand-new scale armor design to a expert from NYC. “It’s as if actual armour,” she grins.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

Regarding the fans? They took to the stage blood, soft weapons and crafted rodent bones with equal enthusiasm as the musicians. “We had a show in Detroit and it resembled a Renaissance fair,” remembers Riley fondly. “All attendees was in robes, animal hides, chainmail.”

However, this doesn’t mean, however, that traveling lifestyle as fantasy adventurers has been plain sailing. “All our gear is always failing and gets repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Plus I’ll have countless concepts as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we’re traveling in a bus with restricted capacity. It’s a unique problem to give the sense like a grand epic, then pack it down into a small space.”

We faced further organizational challenges that didn’t affect mythic characters. “We did have an ‘oh shit’ moment when we played SonicBlast festival in the European country and my luggage – which had my weapon in it – went missing,” says Riley. “It was a worst-case scenario, because there’s not an different option of the concert where I am without a blade.”

Future Ambitions

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is eager about the days to come. “My goal is to the top – let’s do huge arenas,” she says. “The main aspect that’s really important to me is keeping the handmade style, making sure everything is crafted by us. That’s an element I want to keep true to, no matter what we achieve. Additionally, I desire to make an entrance on a unicorn at all performances. Remember how famous musicians use vehicles in concerts? Exactly that, but on a mythical creature.”