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While many musicians have borrowed from fantasy lore, only a handful have genuinely embodied the fantasy existence. Admittedly, they may embellish their album sleeves with creatures, goblins, captive women and muscular warriors, but has any musician ever needed to retrieve a missing mythical horn from a wintry landscape in the midst of winter? Has a performer spent time squinting in the interior of a traveling vehicle, mending their own metal mesh?

Immersed in the Legend

Established in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have dealt with both these scenarios and more as they live out their heroic dreams. Starting with heraldic, catchy tunes to eye-popping live shows, attire styling, videos and album art, they’re not so much a heavy metal group as a total artistic immersion.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a outfit with characters,” states vocalist, guitar player, sword-carrier and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport drives from a sold-out gig in Cologne to another in Aschaffenburg – they have multiple performances in the UK this week. “We played two shows and received an offer on a Halloween gig, where I chose at the final moment to put on an outfit. It was all completely self-made, but we had an amazing time and the energy was incredible. I thought, ‘How about if we could have such enjoyment always?’”

Development of Castle Rat

Since then, the group – which features Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” joined by a plague doctor (bass player), aristocratic undead (guitarist) and mysterious druid (rhythm keeper) – haven’t looked back. The new record, the band’s second album, brings to mind of famous rock groups joining forces to fight their path through a mythical painted realm – a grand composition that places them on the brink of greater success.

The release was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her collaborators. “This helped a much better project,” she says of the team effort. “It was challenging at first – There was a sense of a particular degree of pride as a female in music going it alone. There have been so many times where I finished performing and some guy will say, ‘Those guys write great riffs!’ and I think, ‘Listen – I wrote all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

As their fame has grown, so has the scale of their visual elements. “The saying I live by is always that if an effort matters, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton laughs. She was originally on track for a university studies in art before pulling back at the possibility of heavy loans. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to apply creativity,” she says. “Be it crafting disguises, outfit planning, mastering post-production song visuals … these are all things I don’t know how to do, but it’s fun to discover in the moment.”

As if building the ensemble’s complex backstory (“People are encouraging me to write it down because everything is stored,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and making clothing wasn’t enough, the vocalist learned on her own how to craft metal mesh – a difficult task, though she confessedly delegated her all-new scale armor design to a New York-based specialist. “It seems like actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

Regarding the fans? They took to the theatrical gore, toy blades and crafted rodent bones with as much gusto as the band. “We had a concert in the Motor City and it looked like a historical festival,” remembers Riley fondly. “All attendees was in cloaks, sheepskin, chainmail.”

This isn’t to say, however, that traveling lifestyle as mythical wanderers has been easy. “Everything is frequently damaged and becomes repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Moreover I’ll have countless concepts as to how I want things to look, but we tour in a vehicle with restricted capacity. It’s an interesting challenge to give the sense like a grand epic, then store it into minimal luggage.”

We faced further organizational challenges that would never have plagued mythic characters. “We did have an ‘uh-oh’ moment when we performed at SonicBlast festival in Portugal and my suitcase – which had my blade in it – went missing,” says Riley. “This became a nightmare, because there’s not an different option of the performance where I lack a weapon.”

Goals Ahead

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is eager about the what’s next. “My goal is all the way – I dream of large venues,” she says. “The key element that’s deeply meaningful to me is preserving the handmade style, guaranteeing each detail is crafted by us. It’s a component I want to keep true to, whatever we grow into. Additionally, I desire to appear on a unicorn every night. Remember how legends do the motorcycle thing? Exactly that, but on a mythical creature.”