‘I Want to Ride Out on a Unicorn Every Night’: Medieval Metal Group Castle Rat

While many musicians have borrowed from epic fantasy, few have fully embraced the enchanted lifestyle. Admittedly, they may adorn their album sleeves with ghouls, goblins, captive women and brawny barbarians, but did a member ever have to find a missing horn from a unicorn from a wintry landscape in the heart of winter? Did a guitarist taken the time squinting in the interior of a tour bus, repairing their own chainmail?

Living the Fantasy

Created in 2019, New York’s Castle Rat have dealt with both these scenarios and additional ones as they act out their grand tales. From medieval-inspired, earworm-heavy tunes to eye-popping performances, attire styling, videos and cover artwork, they’re not just a rock act as a total artistic immersion.

“It wasn’t planned to be a costumed concept band,” says vocalist, guitar player, blade-handler and artistic leader Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle drives from a packed show in a German city to one more in another town – they’re also doing several shows in the UK currently. “We played two shows and got booked on a spooky event, where I decided spontaneously to wear a costume. Everything was completely self-made, but we had so much fun and the atmosphere was unforgettable. I thought, ‘Imagine if we could have so much excitement at every show?’”

Growth of the Group

After that, the band – which includes Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” joined by a medic from history (bass player), proud bloodsucker (lead guitarist) and mysterious druid (rhythm keeper) – continued forward. The Bestiary, the group’s sophomore release, brings to mind of legendary heavy bands collaborating to fight their path through a heroic art landscape – a grand composition that positions them on the edge of far grander things.

The Bestiary was a first for Pinkerton in that she opened the floor to her bandmates. “It made it a lot stronger project,” she says of the group work. “I struggled at first – There was a sense of a certain amount of pride being a woman in music going it alone. There have been numerous occasions where I finished performing and an audience member will say, ‘Those guys write great riffs!’ and I respond, ‘Hey – I created all that.’”

Creative Output and Ideas

As their fame has grown, so has the scale of their visual elements. “The saying I live by is always that if an effort matters, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton laughs. She was originally on track for a art school education before hesitating at the prospect of financial burden. “The exciting part about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to apply creativity,” she says. “Be it making masks, costume design, learning how to edit clips … these are all things I have no experience with, but it’s exciting to figure it out on the fly.”

As if creating the group’s detailed mythology (“People are encouraging me to write it down because everything is stored,” Riley says, tapping her head) and sewing costumes didn’t suffice, the singer learned on her own how to make chainmail – a difficult task, though she admittedly entrusted her brand-new scalemail look to a expert from NYC. “It feels like actual armour,” she beams.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

What about the crowd? They took to the theatrical gore, soft weapons and crafted rodent bones with similar excitement as the group. “We had a concert in Detroit and it resembled a Renaissance fair,” recalls Riley happily. “The whole crowd was in capes, sheepskin, metal wear.”

However, this doesn’t mean, nevertheless, that traveling lifestyle as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been plain sailing. “Everything is constantly breaking and becomes duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Moreover I’ll have countless concepts as to how I envision the aesthetics, but we’re traveling in a bus with restricted capacity. It’s a unique problem to create the impression like a grand epic, then compress it into minimal luggage.”

There have been further organizational challenges that wouldn’t have troubled fictional warriors. “There was an ‘oh shit’ moment when we played SonicBlast festival in the European country and my luggage – which had my weapon in it – went missing,” says Riley. “This became a nightmare, because there is no an different option of the show where I don’t have a sword.”

Future Ambitions

As a genuine leader, Riley is enthusiastic about the what’s next. “My goal is as far as possible – I dream of large venues,” she says. “The main aspect that’s deeply meaningful to me is maintaining the handmade style, guaranteeing each detail is crafted by us. It’s a component I want to remain faithful to, no matter what we achieve. Additionally, I wish to make an entrance on a magical horse every night. You know how some artists do the motorcycle thing? The same idea, but on a mythical creature.”