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Although numerous rockers have taken inspiration from high fantasy, only a handful have truly lived the fantasy existence. Certainly, they may embellish their record jackets with monsters, goblins, captive women and brawny barbarians, but has an artist ever been forced to retrieve a missing mythical horn from a frost-covered ground in the midst of winter? Did a guitarist devoted hours straining their eyes in the interior of a road transport, repairing their own metal mesh?

Living the Fantasy

Formed in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have had to face both these scenarios and additional ones as they embody their grand tales. From heraldic, earworm-heavy tunes to eye-popping performances, costume design, music videos and cover artwork, they’re not just a heavy metal group as a complete sensory journey.

“It wasn’t planned to be a costumed concept band,” says singer, guitar player, blade-handler and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport drives from a packed show in Cologne to a second one in Aschaffenburg – they’re also doing several shows in the UK now. “After a couple of performances and received an offer on a spooky event, where I decided spontaneously to wear a costume. Everything was highly handmade, but we had an amazing time and the energy was electric. I thought, ‘Imagine if we could have such enjoyment at every show?’”

The Band’s Evolution

From that point on, the group – which includes Pinkerton as the “Rat Queen” alongside a plague doctor (low-end instrumentalist), aristocratic undead (six-string player) and mysterious druid (percussionist) – never turned back. The new record, the band’s second album, brings to mind of legendary heavy bands uniting to fight their path through a Frank Frazetta fantasy world – a heroic opus that places them on the edge of greater success.

The Bestiary was a first for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her fellow members. “This helped a lot stronger record,” she says of the collaborative process. “I struggled at first – There was a sense of a certain amount of accomplishment being a woman in music doing everything solo. There’ve been multiple instances where after a show and a person will say, ‘The band compose cool melodies!’ and I respond, ‘Listen – I composed all that.’”

Artistry and Imagination

As their fame has grown, so has the scale of their visual elements. “My motto is always that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton laughs. At first, she had been on track for a art school education before pulling back at the idea of so much debt. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to express creativity,” she says. “Whether it’s crafting disguises, costume design, learning how to edit music videos … everything is I don’t know how to do, but it’s enjoyable to discover in the moment.”

As if building the group’s detailed mythology (“People are encouraging me to record it because it’s all in here,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and stitching garments wasn’t enough, the vocalist self-educated how to make chainmail – no mean feat, though she confessedly delegated her completely original reptilian-inspired outfit to a expert from NYC. “It’s as if actual armour,” she grins.

Fan Response and Obstacles

Regarding the fans? They took to the stage blood, foam swords and papier-mache rat skulls with as much gusto as the musicians. “We played a gig in Detroit and it resembled a Renaissance fair,” recalls Riley fondly. “The whole crowd was in robes, animal hides, armor.”

This isn’t to say, nevertheless, that traveling lifestyle as fantasy adventurers has been plain sailing. “All our gear is constantly breaking and gets fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Moreover I get endless ideas as to how I desire the presentation, but we’re traveling in a vehicle with limited room. It’s a unique problem to give the sense like a larger-than-life story, then compress it into minimal luggage.”

We faced further organizational challenges that didn’t affect legendary fantasy heroes. “We experienced an ‘uh-oh’ moment when we appeared at a music event in the European country and my baggage – which had my sword in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “It was a terrible situation, because there’s not an backup plan of the concert where I don’t have a sword.”

Future Ambitions

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is eager about the future. “I want to go to the top – let’s do stadiums,” she says. “The main aspect that’s deeply meaningful to me is maintaining the handmade style, making sure everything is handmade. It’s a component I want to stay authentic to, no matter what we scale to. Oh, and I desire to appear on a unicorn at all performances. You know how famous musicians do the motorcycle thing? That, but with a unicorn.”