‘My Fantasy Is to Ride a Unicorn Nightly’: Fantasy-Themed Metal Band Castle Rat

Although numerous artists have taken inspiration from epic fantasy, only a handful have fully embraced the enchanted way of life. Sure, they could decorate their record jackets with creatures, beasts, chained damsels and muscular warriors, but did a member ever have to recover a misplaced mythical horn from a frost-covered ground in the midst of winter? Did a guitarist spent time straining their eyes in the interior of a traveling vehicle, fixing their own metal mesh?

Immersed in the Legend

Formed in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have encountered these exact challenges and more as they act out their grand tales. From heraldic, memorable tunes to eye-popping concerts, outfit creation, music videos and album art, they’re not just a rock act as a total artistic immersion.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a costumed concept band,” says vocalist, guitar player, sword-carrier and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van drives from a packed show in Cologne to a second one in Aschaffenburg – they have multiple performances in the UK this week. “After a couple of performances and were scheduled on a spooky event, where I chose at the final moment to put on an outfit. It was all highly handmade, but we had an amazing time and the energy was unforgettable. I realized, ‘Imagine if we could have this much fun always?’”

Growth of the Group

From that point on, the band – which features Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” joined by a medic from history (bass player), proud bloodsucker (lead guitarist) and mysterious druid (drummer) – never turned back. The new record, the band’s second album, conjures visions 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 new experience for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her fellow members. “That contributed to a much better project,” she says of the collaborative process. “I had difficulty at first – There was a sense of a certain amount of satisfaction as a woman in music going it alone. There have been multiple instances where after a show and a person will say, ‘The band create awesome guitar parts!’ and I think, ‘Listen – I composed all that.’”

Artistry and Imagination

As their fame has increased, so has the breadth of their stage presentation. “My motto is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. At first, she had been on track for a art school education before balking at the idea of so much debt. “The exciting part about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to apply artistic expression,” she says. “From crafting disguises, outfit planning, figuring out video editing song visuals … these are all things I have no experience with, but it’s fun to figure it out as we go.”

As if creating the band’s intricate lore (“People are encouraging me to document it because all the ideas are,” Riley says, indicating her head) and making clothing didn’t suffice, the singer learned on her own how to craft metal mesh – a challenging endeavor, though she admittedly delegated her completely original scale armor design to a professional in the city. “It’s as if actual armour,” she grins.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

What about the crowd? They took to the theatrical gore, foam swords and papier-mache rat skulls with equal enthusiasm as the group. “We performed a concert in Detroit and it seemed like a historical festival,” remembers Riley with affection. “All attendees was in capes, sheepskin, armor.”

However, this doesn’t mean, though, that traveling lifestyle as fantasy adventurers has been plain sailing. “Everything is constantly breaking and gets repaired with tape,” Riley says. “Plus I come up with countless concepts 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 create the impression like a larger-than-life story, then pack it down into minimal luggage.”

There have been further organizational challenges that would never have plagued fictional warriors. “We experienced an ‘oh shit’ moment when we appeared at SonicBlast festival in Portugal and my baggage – which had my sword in it – went missing,” says Riley. “That was a terrible situation, because there’s not an backup plan of the concert where I am without a weapon.”

Goals Ahead

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is enthusiastic about the days to come. “I want to go to the top – let’s do stadiums,” she says. “The only thing that’s really important to me is keeping the self-crafted look, making sure everything is custom-made. It’s a component I want to keep true to, no matter what we grow into. Additionally, I wish to ride out on a magical horse each show. You know how famous musicians do the motorcycle thing? The same idea, but with a unicorn.”