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While many rockers have drawn from fantasy lore, only a handful have genuinely embodied the enchanted existence. Certainly, they may adorn their album covers with ghouls, beasts, manacled maidens and brawny barbarians, but has an artist ever needed to find a misplaced mythical horn from a snowy field in the depths of winter? Has anyone devoted hours peering in the interior of a traveling vehicle, mending their own armor?

Immersed in the Legend

Formed in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have encountered such situations and additional ones as they embody their heroic dreams. Starting with knightly, catchy tunes to stunning performances, costume design, videos and record designs, they’re not so much a metal band as a total artistic immersion.

“It wasn’t planned to be a costumed concept band,” says singer, guitarist, blade-handler and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport speeds from a full-capacity concert in Cologne to a second one in Aschaffenburg – they are playing multiple performances in the UK this week. “After a couple of performances and were scheduled on a October show, where I decided spontaneously to put on an outfit. It was all highly handmade, but we had an amazing time and the feeling in the room was unforgettable. It occurred to me, ‘How about if we could have so much excitement at every show?’”

Growth of the Group

Since then, the band – which includes Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” joined by a plague doctor (low-end instrumentalist), haughty vampire (six-string player) and mysterious druid (rhythm keeper) – never turned back. Their latest album, the group’s sophomore release, evokes images of famous rock groups joining forces to fight their path through a heroic art landscape – a heroic opus that positions them on the edge of greater success.

This album was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her fellow members. “That contributed to a lot stronger project,” she says of the team effort. “I struggled at first – I often experienced a specific level of pride as a woman in music going it alone. There have been so many times where I’ve got off stage and some guy will say, ‘Those guys compose cool melodies!’ and I’m like, ‘Listen – I created all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

With their growing popularity has grown, so has the scope of their stage presentation. “The saying I live by is always that if an effort matters, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. At first, she had been on course for a art school education before hesitating at the prospect of so much debt. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to demonstrate artistic expression,” she says. “Be it creating face coverings, attire creation, mastering post-production song visuals … it’s all stuff I don’t know how to do, but it’s fun to discover in the moment.”

As if developing the ensemble’s complex backstory (“People are encouraging me to document it because all the ideas are,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and stitching garments wasn’t enough, the vocalist self-educated how to craft metal mesh – no mean feat, though she confessedly left her completely original scalemail look to a expert from NYC. “It seems like actual armour,” she grins.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

As for audiences? They took to the fake blood, foam swords and crafted rodent bones with similar excitement as the group. “We had a show in Detroit and it seemed like a Renaissance fair,” remembers Riley with affection. “Everyone was in robes, sheepskin, armor.”

This isn’t to say, nevertheless, that traveling lifestyle as fantasy adventurers has been easy. “Each item is frequently damaged and ends up repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Plus I come up with endless ideas as to how I want things to look, but we are on the move in a van with restricted capacity. It’s an interesting challenge to make it feel like a mythic tale, then pack it down into nothing.”

We’ve encountered other logistical problems that didn’t affect fictional warriors. “There was an ‘disastrous’ moment when we performed at a Portuguese festival in the European country and my baggage – which had my blade in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “This became a terrible situation, because we don’t have an alternative version of the performance where I lack a blade.”

Goals Ahead

As a genuine leader, Riley is gung-ho about the what’s next. “My goal is to the top – we should play huge arenas,” she says. “The key element that’s really important to me is maintaining the handmade style, ensuring everything is handmade. This is a feature I want to remain faithful to, regardless of we achieve. Plus, I want to make an entrance on a unicorn every night. Think about how some artists do the motorcycle thing? That, but on a mythical creature.”