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While plenty of musicians have drawn from high fantasy, few have fully embraced the fantasy way of life. Certainly, they could embellish their record jackets with monsters, goblins, manacled maidens and muscular warriors, but did a member ever been forced to recover a missing horn from a unicorn from a wintry landscape in the heart of winter? Has a performer devoted hours straining their eyes in the interior of a tour bus, repairing their own armor?

Immersed in the Legend

Created in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have encountered these exact challenges and more as they live out their heroic dreams. Starting with medieval-inspired, memorable tunes to eye-popping live shows, costume design, visuals and cover artwork, they’re not just a metal band as a total artistic immersion.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a costumed concept band,” explains vocalist, guitarist, blade-handler and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van drives from a full-capacity concert in a German city to a second one in another town – they’re also doing five gigs in the UK this week. “We played two shows and received an offer on a spooky event, where I made a last-minute decision to dress up. It was all highly handmade, but we had a blast and the feeling in the room was unforgettable. I realized, ‘Imagine if we could have such enjoyment at every show?’”

The Band’s Evolution

Since then, the group – which includes Pinkerton as the “Rat Queen” joined by a pestilence physician (bass player), proud bloodsucker (guitarist) and mysterious druid (percussionist) – never turned back. The Bestiary, the follow-up record, brings to mind of famous rock groups uniting to fight their path through a heroic art landscape – a grand composition that places them on the brink of far grander things.

This album was a first for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her bandmates. “This helped a much better record,” she says of the collaborative process. “I had difficulty at first – I often experienced a specific level of pride being a woman in music working independently. I’ve had multiple instances where I’ve got off stage and some guy will say, ‘The band compose cool melodies!’ and I think, ‘Wait – I composed all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

With their growing popularity has increased, so has the scale of their stage presentation. “The saying I live by is always that if an effort matters, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. She was originally on path for a fine art degree before hesitating at the idea of so much debt. “The exciting part about Castle Rat is there’s numerous methods to demonstrate artistic expression,” she says. “Whether it’s creating face coverings, outfit planning, figuring out video editing song visuals … it’s all stuff I am unfamiliar with, but it’s exciting to discover in the moment.”

Even though creating the group’s detailed mythology (“People are encouraging me to record it because all the ideas are,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and stitching garments wasn’t enough, the singer taught herself how to craft metal mesh – no mean feat, though she confessedly delegated her all-new reptilian-inspired outfit to a expert from NYC. “It seems like actual armour,” she grins.

Fan Response and Obstacles

As for audiences? They loved the stage blood, foam swords and handmade props with equal enthusiasm as the musicians. “We performed a gig in the Motor City and it seemed like a historical festival,” reminisces Riley fondly. “All attendees was in cloaks, wool garments, armor.”

However, this doesn’t mean, nevertheless, that touring existence as fantasy adventurers has been plain sailing. “Each item is frequently damaged and gets duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Plus I get numerous thoughts as to how I desire the presentation, but we are on the move in a bus with limited room. It’s a fascinating test to make it feel like a grand epic, then store it into minimal luggage.”

There have been further organizational challenges that wouldn’t have troubled fictional warriors. “We experienced an ‘oh shit’ moment when we played a Portuguese festival in Portugal and my luggage – which had my weapon in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “That was a nightmare, because there’s not an alternative version of the concert where I lack a weapon.”

Future Ambitions

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is gung-ho about the days to come. “My goal is to the top – I dream of large venues,” she says. “The only thing that’s truly essential to me is keeping the DIY aesthetic, ensuring each detail is handmade. That’s an element I want to keep true to, no matter what we grow into. Plus, I want to appear on a mythical beast at all performances. You know how legends ride bikes on stage? That, but on a mythical creature.”