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While plenty of artists have taken inspiration from epic fantasy, rarely any have fully embraced the mythical lifestyle. Admittedly, they could embellish their album covers with monsters, beasts, manacled maidens and brawny barbarians, but has an artist ever needed to recover a lost mythical horn from a snowy field in the midst of winter? Has a guitarist devoted hours peering in the interior of a traveling vehicle, fixing their own armor?

Embracing the Mythos

Formed in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have encountered these exact challenges and others as they act out their heroic dreams. From heraldic, earworm-heavy anthems to breathtaking performances, outfit creation, visuals and cover artwork, they’re not so much a rock act as a total artistic immersion.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a outfit with characters,” explains vocalist, guitarist, sword-carrier and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport drives from a packed show in Cologne to one more in another town – they’re also doing multiple performances in the UK this week. “Initially, we performed twice and got booked on a spooky event, where I chose at the final moment to put on an outfit. Everything was highly handmade, but we had a blast and the atmosphere was unforgettable. I realized, ‘Imagine if we could have this much fun always?’”

Growth of the Group

After that, the band – which includes Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” together with a plague doctor (bass player), proud bloodsucker (lead guitarist) and secretive shaman (drummer) – never turned back. The new record, the band’s second album, conjures visions of classic metal icons collaborating to fight their path through a Frank Frazetta fantasy world – a grand composition that sets them on the edge of bigger achievements.

The Bestiary was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her collaborators. “It made it a more powerful album,” she says of the group work. “I had difficulty at first – I often experienced a certain amount of satisfaction as a woman in music working independently. I’ve had so many times where I’ve got off stage and some guy will say, ‘The other members write great riffs!’ and I think, ‘Wait – I created all that.’”

Artistry and Imagination

As their fame has grown, so has the scope of their visual elements. “The saying I live by is always that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. At first, she had been on path for a fine art degree before pulling back at the prospect of heavy loans. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s numerous methods to demonstrate artistic expression,” she says. “Whether it’s making masks, attire creation, learning how to edit clips … it’s all stuff I don’t know how to do, but it’s enjoyable to discover in the moment.”

Even though creating the band’s intricate lore (“People are encouraging me to record it because everything is stored,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and stitching garments didn’t suffice, the singer self-educated how to create armor – a challenging endeavor, though she admittedly delegated her completely original reptilian-inspired outfit to a expert from NYC. “It seems like actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

Regarding the fans? They took to the stage blood, toy blades and crafted rodent bones with similar excitement as the musicians. “We performed a concert in Detroit and it resembled a Renaissance fair,” recalls Riley with affection. “Everyone was in cloaks, wool garments, metal wear.”

However, this doesn’t mean, however, that traveling lifestyle as mythical wanderers has been easy. “All our gear is always failing and gets repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Moreover I’ll have numerous thoughts as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we are on the move in a bus with restricted capacity. It’s an interesting challenge to give the sense like a grand epic, then store it into minimal luggage.”

There have been further organizational challenges that didn’t affect legendary fantasy heroes. “We did have an ‘uh-oh’ moment when we played a Portuguese festival in the European country and my baggage – which had my blade in it – got lost,” says Riley. “That was a worst-case scenario, because there is no an different option of the show where I don’t have a weapon.”

Future Ambitions

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is eager about the what’s next. “I aim to reach all the way – I dream of large venues,” she says. “The main aspect that’s truly essential to me is preserving the handmade style, making sure everything is crafted by us. This is a feature I want to stay authentic to, regardless of we scale to. Oh, and I want to ride out on a magical horse every night. You know how famous musicians ride bikes on stage? Exactly that, but with a unicorn.”