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Although numerous rockers have taken inspiration from high fantasy, few have truly lived the mythical way of life. Sure, they might embellish their record jackets with creatures, imps, chained damsels and strong fighters, but did a member ever needed to retrieve a lost mythical horn from a snowy field in the depths of winter? Has a guitarist devoted hours peering in the interior of a road transport, fixing their own armor?

Embracing the Mythos

Formed in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have dealt with these exact challenges and more as they embody their grand tales. From medieval-inspired, earworm-heavy tunes to stunning live shows, costume design, videos and album art, they’re more than a metal band as a complete sensory journey.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a outfit with characters,” states singer, guitarist, blade-handler and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle speeds from a sold-out gig in Cologne to a second one in another town – they’re also doing five gigs 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 an amazing time and the atmosphere was electric. It occurred to me, ‘Imagine if we could have this much fun at every show?’”

The Band’s Evolution

After that, the band – which includes Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” alongside a plague doctor (bassist), proud bloodsucker (lead guitarist) and enigmatic nature priest (rhythm keeper) – haven’t looked back. The new record, the follow-up record, evokes images of legendary heavy bands collaborating to fight their path through a heroic art landscape – a heroic opus that sets them on the brink of bigger achievements.

The release was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her bandmates. “It made it a much better album,” she says of the team effort. “I had difficulty at first – There was a sense of a specific level of accomplishment as a woman in music going it alone. There’ve been so many times where I’ve got off stage and a person will say, ‘The other members compose cool melodies!’ and I respond, ‘Hey – I wrote all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

With their growing popularity has increased, so has the scope of their production design. “The saying I live by is always that if an effort matters, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. She was originally on course for a university studies in art before hesitating at the idea of financial burden. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to apply creativity,” she says. “Whether it’s making masks, costume design, learning how to edit music videos … these are all things I don’t know how to do, but it’s enjoyable to figure it out in the moment.”

Even though building the group’s detailed mythology (“The team is pushing me to write it down because all the ideas are,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and stitching garments wasn’t enough, the singer learned on her own how to create armor – no mean feat, though she admittedly entrusted her all-new scale armor design to a New York-based specialist. “It seems like actual armour,” she beams.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

What about the crowd? They embraced the theatrical gore, foam swords and crafted rodent bones with similar excitement as the musicians. “We performed a show in Detroit and it looked like a historical festival,” reminisces Riley happily. “Everyone was in capes, sheepskin, chainmail.”

This isn’t to say, though, that touring existence as fantasy adventurers has been smooth. “Each item is always failing and becomes fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Moreover I get numerous thoughts as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we’re traveling in a vehicle with restricted capacity. It’s a unique problem to create the impression like a grand epic, then compress it into a small space.”

We’ve encountered further organizational challenges that wouldn’t have troubled legendary fantasy heroes. “We did have an ‘oh shit’ moment when we played SonicBlast festival in Portugal and my suitcase – which had my weapon in it – went missing,” says Riley. “It was a worst-case scenario, because we don’t have an different option of the performance where I lack a sword.”

Future Ambitions

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is eager about the what’s next. “I aim to reach to the top – let’s do huge arenas,” she says. “The key element that’s truly essential to me is maintaining the self-crafted look, ensuring all elements 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 unicorn at all performances. Remember how legends do the motorcycle thing? Exactly that, but on a mythical creature.”