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While numerous musicians have borrowed from high fantasy, rarely any have genuinely embodied the mythical existence. Certainly, they might decorate their album sleeves with monsters, beasts, chained damsels and muscular warriors, but did a member ever been forced to recover a lost horn from a unicorn from a frost-covered ground in the depths of winter? Did a guitarist spent time straining their eyes in the interior of a road transport, repairing their own armor?

Living the Fantasy

Created in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have dealt with such situations and additional ones as they embody their epic fantasies. Starting with heraldic, catchy songs to eye-popping performances, outfit creation, music videos and album art, they’re more than a rock act as a complete sensory journey.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a outfit with characters,” says vocalist, guitarist, blade-handler and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van travels from a packed show in Cologne to a second one in Aschaffenburg – they’re also doing multiple performances in the UK currently. “We played two shows and got booked on a Halloween gig, where I decided spontaneously to put on an outfit. The entire setup was highly handmade, but we had an amazing time and the energy was unforgettable. I realized, ‘How about if we could have so much excitement always?’”

Development of Castle Rat

Since then, the ensemble – which includes Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” together with a medic from history (bassist), haughty vampire (lead guitarist) and secretive shaman (drummer) – never turned back. Their latest album, the band’s second album, conjures visions of classic metal icons joining forces to struggle onward through a heroic art landscape – a heroic opus that positions them on the edge of far grander things.

The Bestiary was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her fellow members. “This helped a more powerful album,” she says of the team effort. “I had difficulty at first – I’d always felt a specific level of satisfaction being a woman in music working independently. I’ve had multiple instances where after a show and an audience member will say, ‘The band compose cool melodies!’ and I’m like, ‘Hey – I composed all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

As the band’s stature has grown, so has the scale of their visual elements. “My philosophy is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. At first, she had been on path for a fine art degree before balking at the possibility of so much debt. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to express artistry,” she says. “Whether it’s crafting disguises, outfit planning, mastering post-production music videos … it’s all stuff I have no experience with, but it’s exciting to discover in the moment.”

Even though developing the ensemble’s complex backstory (“The team is pushing me to document it because it’s all in here,” Riley says, tapping her head) and stitching garments wasn’t enough, the vocalist self-educated how to make chainmail – a difficult task, though she admittedly left her all-new scale armor design to a New York-based specialist. “It’s as if actual armour,” she grins.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

As for audiences? They loved the fake blood, toy blades and handmade props with equal enthusiasm as the group. “We played a gig in the Motor City and it resembled a historical festival,” remembers Riley with affection. “Everyone was in capes, animal hides, armor.”

However, this doesn’t mean, however, that life on the road as mythical wanderers has been smooth. “All our gear is always failing and gets fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Moreover I come up with endless ideas as to how I desire the presentation, but we tour in a van with limited room. It’s an interesting challenge to give the sense like a larger-than-life story, then compress it into a small space.”

There have been further organizational challenges that would never have plagued legendary fantasy heroes. “We did have an ‘oh shit’ moment when we played a music event in Portugal and my luggage – which had my sword in it – got lost,” says Riley. “This became a nightmare, because we don’t have an alternative version of the performance where I am without a sword.”

Future Ambitions

As a genuine leader, Riley is gung-ho about the what’s next. “I want to go as far as possible – we should play huge arenas,” she says. “The key element that’s really important to me is preserving the self-crafted look, ensuring all elements is crafted by us. That’s an element I want to keep true to, whatever we achieve. Additionally, I wish to make an entrance on a unicorn each show. You know how some artists ride bikes on stage? That, but on a mythical creature.”