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While plenty of artists have taken inspiration from fantasy lore, rarely any have truly lived the fantasy lifestyle. Admittedly, they could adorn their album covers with monsters, beasts, chained damsels and strong fighters, but did a member ever have to retrieve a misplaced mythical horn from a frost-covered ground in the midst of winter? Did a performer taken the time straining their eyes in the interior of a traveling vehicle, repairing their own metal mesh?

Living the Fantasy

Formed in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have encountered such situations and more as they act out their grand tales. Starting with knightly, earworm-heavy songs to breathtaking performances, attire styling, visuals and cover artwork, they’re not so much a heavy metal group as a total artistic immersion.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a costumed concept band,” states 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 another in another town – they are playing several shows in the UK this week. “Initially, we performed twice and received an offer on a spooky event, where I chose at the final moment to dress up. It was all completely self-made, but we had a blast and the energy was electric. I thought, ‘What if we could have so much excitement at every show?’”

Development of Castle Rat

Since then, the group – which features Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” alongside a medic from history (bass player), haughty vampire (six-string player) and enigmatic nature priest (drummer) – continued forward. The new record, the band’s second album, evokes images of famous rock groups joining forces to struggle onward through a heroic art landscape – a heroic opus that places them on the verge of greater success.

The Bestiary was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her collaborators. “This helped a more powerful project,” she says of the group work. “It was challenging at first – I’d always felt a certain amount of pride as a woman in music working independently. I’ve had so many times where I’ve got off stage and a person will say, ‘The other members compose cool melodies!’ and I think, ‘Wait – I wrote all that.’”

Artistry and Imagination

With their growing popularity has increased, so has the scale of their visual elements. “My philosophy is always that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton laughs. Initially, she was on path for a art school education before balking at the idea of heavy loans. “The exciting part about Castle Rat is there’s numerous methods to demonstrate artistic expression,” she says. “Whether it’s creating face coverings, attire creation, learning how to edit song visuals … these are all things I am unfamiliar with, but it’s fun to learn as we go.”

Even though developing the ensemble’s complex backstory (“People are encouraging me to write it down because all the ideas are,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and sewing costumes were insufficient, the singer self-educated how to make chainmail – a difficult task, though she admittedly left her brand-new scalemail look to a professional in the city. “It’s as if actual armour,” she beams.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

Regarding the fans? They loved the theatrical gore, foam swords and papier-mache rat skulls with as much gusto as the band. “We performed a concert in the Motor City and it looked like a historical festival,” remembers Riley fondly. “The whole crowd was in capes, animal hides, metal wear.”

This isn’t to say, however, that touring existence as mythical wanderers has been plain sailing. “Each item is constantly breaking and becomes fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Moreover I’ll have endless ideas as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we’re traveling in a vehicle with limited room. It’s an interesting challenge to create the impression like a larger-than-life story, then store it into nothing.”

There have been other logistical problems that wouldn’t have troubled legendary fantasy heroes. “There was an ‘oh shit’ moment when we appeared at a Portuguese festival in Portugal and my baggage – which had my blade in it – went missing,” says Riley. “That was a worst-case scenario, because there is no an alternative version of the performance where I am without a sword.”

Goals Ahead

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is eager about the what’s next. “I aim to reach as far as possible – let’s do large venues,” she says. “The only thing that’s really important to me is keeping the self-crafted look, ensuring each detail is crafted by us. It’s a component I want to remain faithful to, whatever we scale to. Additionally, I want to ride out on a unicorn at all performances. Think about how famous musicians use vehicles in concerts? The same idea, but using a unicorn.”