‘Every Night, I Dream of Riding a Unicorn’: Fantasy-Themed Metal Group Castle Rat

While many musicians have drawn from epic fantasy, rarely any have truly lived the mythical lifestyle. Certainly, they may adorn their album sleeves with ghouls, imps, manacled maidens and strong fighters, but did a member ever needed to find a lost unicorn horn from a snowy field in the midst of winter? Did a guitarist taken the time straining their eyes in the back of a traveling vehicle, mending their own metal mesh?

Immersed in the Legend

Formed in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have dealt with these exact challenges and more as they act out their epic fantasies. From knightly, memorable anthems to breathtaking live shows, outfit creation, music videos and cover artwork, they’re not so much a metal band as a total artistic immersion.

“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a outfit with characters,” states vocalist, guitar player, sword-wielder and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van speeds from a sold-out gig in a German city to a second one in another town – they have several shows in the UK now. “Initially, we performed twice and received an offer on a October show, where I made a last-minute decision to dress up. It was all super-DIY, but we had so much fun and the feeling in the room was electric. I realized, ‘How about if we could have such enjoyment every time?’”

Development of Castle Rat

From that point on, the ensemble – which features Pinkerton as the “Rat Queen” together with a plague doctor (low-end instrumentalist), aristocratic undead (lead guitarist) and enigmatic nature priest (drummer) – haven’t looked back. The new record, the group’s sophomore release, evokes images of classic metal icons collaborating to fight their path through a heroic art landscape – a epic masterpiece that sets them on the brink of greater success.

This album was a initial step for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her collaborators. “That contributed to a more powerful album,” she says of the group work. “It was challenging at first – There was a sense of a particular degree of accomplishment being a woman in music working independently. There’ve been numerous occasions where after a show and some guy will say, ‘Those guys compose cool melodies!’ and I think, ‘Listen – I wrote all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

As their fame has increased, so has the scope of their visual elements. “The saying I live by is always that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. She was originally on path for a art school education before pulling back at the prospect of heavy loans. “The exciting part about Castle Rat is there’s various avenues to demonstrate creativity,” she says. “From crafting disguises, outfit planning, figuring out video editing song visuals … these are all things I am unfamiliar with, but it’s enjoyable to learn on the fly.”

As if creating the group’s detailed mythology (“Everyone’s urging me to write it down because all the ideas are,” Riley says, tapping her head) and making clothing wasn’t enough, the vocalist learned on her own how to create armor – a difficult task, though she admittedly entrusted her brand-new scalemail look to a expert from NYC. “It feels like actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Fan Response and Obstacles

As for audiences? They loved the fake blood, soft weapons and handmade props with similar excitement as the band. “We played a concert in Detroit and it seemed like a historical festival,” remembers Riley with affection. “All attendees was in cloaks, wool garments, metal wear.”

However, this doesn’t mean, nevertheless, that touring existence as mythical wanderers has been easy. “Everything is constantly breaking and gets duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Additionally I get numerous thoughts as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we tour in a van with restricted capacity. It’s an interesting challenge to create the impression like a grand epic, then compress it into nothing.”

We faced additional practical issues that wouldn’t have troubled mythic characters. “There was an ‘oh shit’ moment when we appeared at SonicBlast festival in the European country and my baggage – which had my weapon in it – went missing,” says Riley. “That was a worst-case scenario, because we don’t have an alternative version of the show where I am without a blade.”

Upcoming Plans

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is eager about the days to come. “I want to go to the top – let’s do large venues,” she says. “The key element that’s truly essential to me is keeping the self-crafted look, ensuring everything is crafted by us. This is a feature I want to keep true to, no matter what we scale to. Additionally, I wish to appear on a unicorn at all performances. Remember how some artists ride bikes on stage? Exactly that, but on a mythical creature.”