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While many artists have taken inspiration from epic fantasy, only a handful have truly lived the mythical lifestyle. Certainly, they could decorate their album sleeves with ghouls, goblins, manacled maidens and brawny barbarians, but has an artist ever have to find a lost unicorn horn from a frost-covered ground in the heart of winter? Has a performer spent time straining their eyes in the back of a traveling vehicle, repairing their own metal mesh?

Immersed in the Legend

Established in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have had to face both these scenarios and others as they act out their grand tales. Starting with medieval-inspired, earworm-heavy songs to breathtaking performances, outfit creation, visuals and cover artwork, they’re not so much a metal band as a complete sensory journey.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a outfit with characters,” says singer, guitar player, sword-wielder and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle drives from a packed show in Cologne to another in another town – they’re also doing multiple performances in the UK this week. “Initially, we performed twice and received an offer on a spooky event, where I chose at the final moment to put on an outfit. It was all super-DIY, but we had an amazing time and the atmosphere was electric. It occurred to me, ‘How about if we could have so much excitement every time?’”

Growth of the Group

After that, the group – which features Pinkerton as the “Rat Queen” joined by a plague doctor (low-end instrumentalist), proud bloodsucker (six-string player) and mysterious druid (rhythm keeper) – never turned back. Their latest album, the band’s second album, brings to mind of legendary heavy bands joining forces to struggle onward through a mythical painted realm – a heroic opus that places them on the brink of far grander things.

The release was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her bandmates. “This helped a more powerful album,” she says of the collaborative process. “It was challenging at first – I’d always felt a particular degree of satisfaction being a woman in music doing everything solo. There have been so many times where after a show and a person will say, ‘The band write great riffs!’ and I think, ‘Wait – I wrote all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

As the band’s stature has expanded, so has the scale of their production design. “The saying I live by is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. She was originally on course for a fine art degree before pulling back at the possibility of heavy loans. “What’s enjoyable about Castle Rat is there’s numerous methods to demonstrate artistry,” she says. “Whether it’s creating face coverings, attire creation, figuring out video editing song visuals … everything is I don’t know how to do, but it’s exciting to learn on the fly.”

As if building the ensemble’s complex backstory (“People are encouraging me to document it because all the ideas are,” Riley says, tapping her head) and stitching garments were insufficient, the singer self-educated how to make chainmail – a difficult task, though she confessedly delegated her all-new scalemail look to a New York-based specialist. “It feels like actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

As for audiences? They took to the fake blood, soft weapons and papier-mache rat skulls with equal enthusiasm as the musicians. “We had a gig in Detroit and it resembled a medieval event,” recalls Riley happily. “All attendees was in capes, sheepskin, armor.”

That’s not to imply, nevertheless, that touring existence as mythical wanderers has been easy. “Each item is always failing and gets repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Plus I get countless concepts as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we are on the move in a bus with only so much space. It’s a fascinating test to create the impression like a grand epic, then pack it down into nothing.”

We’ve encountered further organizational challenges that would never have plagued fictional warriors. “There was an ‘disastrous’ moment when we performed at a music event in Portugal and my luggage – which had my blade in it – got lost,” says Riley. “That 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 gung-ho about the what’s next. “I aim to reach all the way – we should play stadiums,” she says. “The main aspect that’s deeply meaningful to me is maintaining the handmade style, ensuring everything is handmade. This is a feature I want to remain faithful to, whatever we grow into. Plus, I desire to make an entrance on a mythical beast every night. Remember how famous musicians use vehicles in concerts? Exactly that, but using a unicorn.”