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Although numerous artists have borrowed from epic fantasy, few have fully embraced the mythical lifestyle. Certainly, they could embellish their record jackets with ghouls, goblins, captive women and strong fighters, but has an artist ever have to find a lost unicorn horn from a snowy field in the depths of winter? Did a guitarist spent time peering in the back of a road transport, repairing their own metal mesh?

Living the Fantasy

Formed in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have encountered both these scenarios and more as they live out their heroic dreams. Starting with heraldic, earworm-heavy anthems to eye-popping concerts, attire styling, visuals and record designs, they’re more than a metal band as a total artistic immersion.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a outfit with characters,” explains singer, guitarist, sword-wielder and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the musicians’ transport speeds from a packed show in a German city to a second one in another town – they have several shows in the UK now. “Initially, we performed twice and were scheduled on a Halloween gig, where I chose at the final moment to put on an outfit. The entire setup was completely self-made, but we had an amazing time and the energy was electric. I realized, ‘What if we could have so much excitement every time?’”

Development of Castle Rat

Since then, the band – which showcases Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” together with a pestilence physician (bass player), haughty vampire (six-string player) and enigmatic nature priest (percussionist) – continued forward. The Bestiary, the band’s second album, conjures visions of famous rock groups joining forces to fight their path through a mythical painted realm – a heroic opus that sets them on the verge of greater success.

The release was a first for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her fellow members. “It made it a more powerful record,” she says of the collaborative process. “It was challenging at first – There was a sense of a specific level of accomplishment being a woman in music going it alone. There’ve been numerous occasions where I finished performing and a person will say, ‘Those guys compose cool melodies!’ and I’m like, ‘Wait – I composed all that.’”

Artistry and Imagination

With their growing popularity has expanded, so has the breadth of their stage presentation. “The saying I live by is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton laughs. At first, she had been on course for a university studies in art before pulling back at the prospect of heavy loans. “The exciting part about Castle Rat is there’s numerous methods to express creativity,” she says. “From creating face coverings, outfit planning, figuring out video editing song visuals … it’s all stuff I have no experience with, but it’s exciting to discover as we go.”

As if building the group’s detailed mythology (“The team is pushing me to record it because everything is stored,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and stitching garments wasn’t enough, the singer taught herself how to create armor – a challenging endeavor, though she admittedly entrusted her brand-new scalemail look to a New York-based specialist. “It’s as if actual armour,” she beams.

Fan Response and Obstacles

As for audiences? They loved the theatrical gore, toy blades and papier-mache rat skulls with similar excitement as the group. “We performed a gig in the Motor City and it seemed like a Renaissance fair,” remembers Riley happily. “The whole crowd was in capes, wool garments, metal wear.”

This isn’t to say, though, that life on the road as mythical wanderers has been easy. “Everything is constantly breaking and becomes fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Additionally I’ll have endless ideas as to how I desire the presentation, but we are on the move in a bus with limited room. It’s a unique problem to create the impression like a mythic tale, then pack it down into a small space.”

We’ve encountered further organizational challenges that didn’t affect mythic characters. “There was an ‘oh shit’ 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 blade.”

Goals Ahead

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is enthusiastic about the future. “I want to go all the way – let’s do stadiums,” she says. “The only thing that’s truly essential to me is preserving the handmade style, guaranteeing all elements is crafted by us. That’s an element I want to remain faithful to, no matter what we scale to. Additionally, I desire to ride out on a unicorn at all performances. Remember how famous musicians ride bikes on stage? The same idea, but on a mythical creature.”