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Although plenty of musicians have borrowed from high fantasy, few have genuinely embodied the enchanted lifestyle. Sure, they may adorn their album sleeves with monsters, goblins, manacled maidens and brawny barbarians, but did a member ever needed to recover a misplaced horn from a unicorn from a snowy field in the depths of winter? Has a performer taken the time squinting in the back of a tour bus, fixing their own metal mesh?

Immersed in the Legend

Formed in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have encountered these exact challenges and additional ones as they live out their grand tales. Starting with medieval-inspired, catchy anthems to breathtaking live shows, attire styling, music videos and record designs, they’re not just a heavy metal group as a full immersive experience.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a outfit with characters,” says singer, guitar player, sword-carrier and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van drives from a packed show in a German city to one more in another town – they have five gigs in the UK now. “After a couple of performances and were scheduled on a Halloween gig, where I made a last-minute decision to wear a costume. It was all completely self-made, but we had so much fun and the atmosphere was electric. I realized, ‘Imagine if we could have such enjoyment at every show?’”

Growth of the Group

After that, the ensemble – which features Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” alongside a pestilence physician (bass player), aristocratic undead (six-string player) and secretive shaman (drummer) – never turned back. The Bestiary, the band’s second album, evokes images of legendary heavy bands joining forces to struggle onward through a Frank Frazetta fantasy world – a heroic opus that places them on the verge of greater success.

This album was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her fellow members. “It made it a much better record,” she says of the collaborative process. “It was challenging at first – I’d always felt a particular degree of satisfaction being a woman in music working independently. There have been so many times where I’ve got off stage and some guy will say, ‘The band write great riffs!’ and I think, ‘Hey – I created all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

With their growing popularity has increased, so has the breadth of their production design. “My philosophy is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. She was originally on course for a university studies in art before pulling back at the idea of heavy loans. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to express artistic expression,” she says. “Whether it’s creating face coverings, costume design, figuring out video editing clips … everything is I have no experience with, but it’s exciting to discover as we go.”

As if developing the group’s detailed mythology (“The team is pushing me to write it down because everything is stored,” Riley says, indicating her head) and sewing costumes were insufficient, the vocalist taught herself how to create armor – no mean feat, though she confessedly delegated her brand-new scalemail look to a professional in the city. “It seems like actual armour,” she beams.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

Regarding the fans? They took to the stage blood, toy blades and handmade props with similar excitement as the band. “We performed a show in the Motor City and it seemed like a Renaissance fair,” reminisces Riley happily. “The whole crowd was in capes, animal hides, chainmail.”

This isn’t to say, though, that traveling lifestyle as mythical wanderers has been easy. “All our gear is frequently damaged and ends up duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Additionally I get numerous thoughts as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we are on the move in a bus with limited room. It’s an interesting challenge to create the impression like a grand epic, then store it into minimal luggage.”

We’ve encountered other logistical problems that would never have plagued legendary fantasy heroes. “There was an ‘uh-oh’ moment when we appeared at a music event in Portugal and my baggage – which had my blade in it – got lost,” says Riley. “That was a terrible situation, because there’s not an backup plan of the performance where I don’t have a weapon.”

Goals Ahead

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 main aspect that’s deeply meaningful to me is keeping the DIY aesthetic, making sure all elements is crafted by us. That’s an element I want to remain faithful to, regardless of we scale to. Additionally, I want to ride out on a mythical beast at all performances. You know how some artists use vehicles in concerts? That, but using a unicorn.”