‘I Want to Ride Out on a Unicorn Every Night’: Fantasy-Themed Heavy Metal Band Castle Rat

While plenty of rockers have borrowed from epic fantasy, rarely any have genuinely embodied the fantasy existence. Certainly, they might embellish their album sleeves with monsters, imps, captive women and strong fighters, but did a member ever needed to recover a misplaced unicorn horn from a snowy field in the depths of winter? Did a guitarist devoted hours straining their eyes in the back of a traveling vehicle, repairing their own chainmail?

Immersed in the Legend

Established in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have had to face such situations and more as they live out their heroic dreams. Starting with heraldic, earworm-heavy songs to eye-popping concerts, costume design, visuals and cover artwork, they’re not so much a heavy metal group as a total artistic immersion.

“It wasn’t planned to be a outfit with characters,” says singer, guitarist, blade-handler and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van drives from a full-capacity concert in Cologne to another in Aschaffenburg – they are playing five gigs in the UK currently. “Initially, we performed twice and got booked on a spooky event, where I chose at the final moment to wear a costume. Everything was highly handmade, but we had so much fun and the energy was electric. I realized, ‘Imagine if we could have such enjoyment every time?’”

The Band’s Evolution

From that point on, the group – which includes Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” joined by a medic from history (low-end instrumentalist), proud bloodsucker (lead guitarist) and mysterious druid (rhythm keeper) – never turned back. Their latest album, the band’s second album, brings to mind of legendary heavy bands uniting to fight their path through a heroic art landscape – a grand composition that places them on the brink of bigger achievements.

The release was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her bandmates. “This helped a more powerful record,” she says of the group work. “I struggled at first – I’d always felt a particular degree of pride as a female in music going it alone. There’ve been multiple instances where I finished performing and an audience member will say, ‘Those guys compose cool melodies!’ and I respond, ‘Hey – I composed all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

As their fame has expanded, so has the breadth of their stage presentation. “The saying I live by is always that if something is valuable, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton smiles. She was originally on track for a university studies in art before pulling back at the idea of so much debt. “The fun thing about Castle Rat is there’s so many different ways to apply creativity,” she says. “Whether it’s creating face coverings, outfit planning, figuring out video editing song visuals … everything is I don’t know how to do, but it’s enjoyable to discover on the fly.”

Even though developing the ensemble’s complex backstory (“People are encouraging me to document it because all the ideas are,” Riley says, tapping her head) and making clothing wasn’t enough, the singer learned on her own how to make chainmail – a challenging endeavor, though she confessedly entrusted her brand-new scale armor design to a professional in the city. “It feels like actual armour,” she grins.

Crowd Engagement and Difficulties

Regarding the fans? They loved the fake blood, toy blades and handmade props with similar excitement as the musicians. “We performed a concert in Detroit and it looked like a medieval event,” remembers Riley fondly. “The whole crowd was in cloaks, wool garments, metal wear.”

That’s not to imply, though, that traveling lifestyle as fantasy adventurers has been smooth. “Everything is frequently damaged and becomes fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Moreover I come up with endless ideas as to how I desire the presentation, but we tour in a van with restricted capacity. It’s an interesting challenge to create the impression like a mythic tale, then compress it into minimal luggage.”

We’ve encountered additional practical issues that would never have plagued mythic characters. “We did have an ‘disastrous’ moment when we appeared at SonicBlast festival in the European country and my luggage – which had my weapon in it – got lost,” says Riley. “It was a worst-case scenario, because there is no an different option of the show where I don’t have a sword.”

Future Ambitions

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is enthusiastic about the future. “I want to go as far as possible – we should play large venues,” she says. “The main aspect that’s really important to me is keeping the handmade style, ensuring each detail is handmade. This is a feature I want to remain faithful to, regardless of we achieve. Plus, I want to ride out on a mythical beast each show. Remember how some artists use vehicles in concerts? That, but using a unicorn.”