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Although many rockers have taken inspiration from fantasy lore, rarely any have fully embraced the enchanted way of life. Certainly, they may embellish their album covers with creatures, beasts, captive women and strong fighters, but has an artist ever have to recover a lost horn from a unicorn from a snowy field in the midst of winter? Did a guitarist taken the time straining their eyes in the rear of a tour bus, mending their own chainmail?

Embracing the Mythos

Created in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have encountered such situations and additional ones as they live out their grand tales. Starting with heraldic, catchy anthems to breathtaking concerts, attire styling, music videos and record designs, they’re not just a metal band as a total artistic immersion.

“It wasn’t planned to be a themed musical group,” says singer, guitar player, sword-carrier and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport drives from a packed show in Cologne to a second one in another town – they have several shows in the UK now. “Initially, we performed twice and received an offer on a Halloween gig, where I decided spontaneously to wear a costume. Everything was completely self-made, but we had an amazing time and the atmosphere was electric. It occurred to me, ‘Imagine if we could have this much fun every time?’”

Development of Castle Rat

After that, the ensemble – which features Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” together with a pestilence physician (low-end instrumentalist), aristocratic undead (lead guitarist) and secretive shaman (rhythm keeper) – continued forward. Their latest album, the band’s second album, conjures visions of famous rock groups collaborating to struggle onward through a Frank Frazetta fantasy world – a grand composition that sets them on the verge of greater success.

This album was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her collaborators. “That contributed to a much better project,” she says of the group work. “I struggled at first – I often experienced a particular degree of satisfaction being a woman in music doing everything solo. There have been so many times where I finished performing and an audience member will say, ‘The other members write great riffs!’ and I respond, ‘Hey – I composed all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

As the band’s stature has expanded, so has the breadth of their stage presentation. “My motto is always that if an effort matters, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. She was originally on path for a fine art degree before balking at the idea of so much debt. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to demonstrate creativity,” she says. “Be it creating face coverings, costume design, figuring out video editing clips … everything is I am unfamiliar with, but it’s fun to discover on the fly.”

As if developing the band’s intricate lore (“Everyone’s urging me to write it down because it’s all in here,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and making clothing were insufficient, the singer taught herself how to craft metal mesh – a challenging endeavor, though she confessedly left her all-new scalemail look to a professional in the city. “It feels like actual armour,” she beams.

Fan Response and Obstacles

What about the crowd? They took to the fake blood, foam swords and handmade props with as much gusto as the group. “We performed a show in Detroit and it resembled a Renaissance fair,” recalls Riley happily. “All attendees was in capes, wool garments, metal wear.”

This isn’t to say, however, that touring existence as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been easy. “Each item is constantly breaking and becomes repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Additionally I’ll have numerous thoughts as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we tour in a bus with restricted capacity. It’s a fascinating test to give the sense like a grand epic, then store it into a small space.”

There have been further organizational challenges that didn’t affect legendary fantasy heroes. “We experienced an ‘disastrous’ moment when we played SonicBlast festival in the European country and my baggage – which had my blade in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “That was a nightmare, because we don’t have an alternative version of the concert where I lack a sword.”

Goals Ahead

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is gung-ho about the days to come. “I aim to reach as far as possible – I dream of large venues,” she says. “The only thing that’s deeply meaningful to me is keeping the DIY aesthetic, making sure all elements is handmade. That’s an element I want to stay authentic to, regardless of we grow into. Oh, and I wish to appear on a unicorn every night. Remember how some artists do the motorcycle thing? The same idea, but using a unicorn.”