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Although many musicians have drawn from high fantasy, rarely any have genuinely embodied the fantasy existence. Certainly, they may decorate their album sleeves with creatures, beasts, captive women and strong fighters, but has any musician ever needed to recover a missing mythical horn from a snowy field in the depths of winter? Has anyone devoted hours squinting in the interior of a road transport, fixing their own chainmail?

Embracing the Mythos

Established in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have had to face such situations and additional ones as they act out their epic fantasies. From knightly, catchy tunes to eye-popping live shows, outfit creation, visuals and record designs, they’re not so much a heavy metal group as a complete sensory journey.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a costumed concept band,” explains singer, guitarist, sword-carrier and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle travels from a full-capacity concert in a German city to another in another town – they are playing multiple performances in the UK this week. “We played two shows and received an offer on a October show, where I made a last-minute decision to dress up. It was all super-DIY, but we had a blast and the feeling in the room was unforgettable. I thought, ‘What if we could have such enjoyment every time?’”

Growth of the Group

From that point on, the band – which includes Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” together with a plague doctor (bass player), aristocratic undead (six-string player) and enigmatic nature priest (drummer) – never turned back. The Bestiary, the band’s second album, evokes images of classic metal icons collaborating to fight their path through a Frank Frazetta fantasy world – a grand composition that sets them on the verge of far grander things.

This album was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her fellow members. “This helped a more powerful project,” she says of the team effort. “It was challenging at first – There was a sense of a specific level of pride being a woman in music working independently. There’ve been so many times where after a show and an audience member will say, ‘The other members compose cool melodies!’ and I think, ‘Hey – I composed all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

With their growing popularity has grown, so has the breadth of their visual elements. “My motto is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton laughs. She was originally on path for a fine art degree before pulling back at the prospect of heavy loans. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s numerous methods to demonstrate artistic expression,” she says. “Be it making masks, attire creation, mastering post-production music videos … everything is I am unfamiliar with, but it’s exciting to learn on the fly.”

Even though building the ensemble’s complex backstory (“Everyone’s urging me to record it because everything is stored,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and sewing costumes wasn’t enough, the vocalist self-educated how to create armor – a difficult task, though she confessedly entrusted her completely original scalemail look to a New York-based specialist. “It feels like actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Fan Response and Obstacles

What about the crowd? They embraced the fake blood, toy blades and crafted rodent bones with similar excitement as the band. “We performed a concert in Detroit and it seemed like a Renaissance fair,” reminisces Riley fondly. “The whole crowd was in robes, animal hides, chainmail.”

However, this doesn’t mean, however, that touring existence as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been easy. “Everything is frequently damaged and gets repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Moreover I get countless concepts as to how I want things to look, but we’re traveling in a vehicle with restricted capacity. It’s an interesting challenge to create the impression like a larger-than-life story, then pack it down into a small space.”

We’ve encountered further organizational challenges that would never have plagued fictional warriors. “There was an ‘disastrous’ moment when we appeared at SonicBlast festival in the European country and my suitcase – which had my sword in it – got lost,” says Riley. “It was a terrible situation, because there is no an backup plan of the performance where I lack a sword.”

Upcoming Plans

As a genuine leader, Riley is enthusiastic about the days to come. “My goal is to the top – I dream of stadiums,” she says. “The main aspect that’s truly essential to me is maintaining the handmade style, making sure everything is handmade. It’s a component I want to stay authentic to, whatever we achieve. Oh, and I wish to ride out on a unicorn every night. Remember how legends ride bikes on stage? Exactly that, but with a unicorn.”