‘Every Night, I Dream of Riding a Unicorn’: Medieval Heavy Metal Band Castle Rat

While many rockers have drawn from epic fantasy, only a handful have truly lived the fantasy way of life. Certainly, they could embellish their album sleeves with creatures, imps, chained damsels and brawny barbarians, but has an artist ever have to recover a misplaced mythical horn from a snowy field in the depths of winter? Has a guitarist spent time squinting in the rear of a road transport, mending their own armor?

Immersed in the Legend

Created in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have had to face these exact challenges and others as they act out their grand tales. Starting with knightly, catchy songs to breathtaking concerts, attire styling, videos and record designs, they’re not so much a heavy metal group as a full immersive experience.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a themed musical group,” explains singer, guitar player, sword-wielder and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van speeds from a sold-out gig in Cologne to another in another town – they have several shows in the UK this week. “We played two shows and got booked on a Halloween gig, where I chose at the final moment to put on an outfit. The entire setup was highly handmade, but we had a blast and the atmosphere was unforgettable. I realized, ‘How about if we could have this much fun always?’”

Growth of the Group

After that, the group – which showcases Pinkerton as the “Queen Rat” together with a medic from history (bassist), haughty vampire (guitarist) and mysterious druid (percussionist) – never turned back. Their latest album, the group’s sophomore release, conjures visions of classic metal icons collaborating to struggle onward through a Frank Frazetta fantasy world – a grand composition that positions them on the verge of far grander things.

This album was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she welcomed contributions to her collaborators. “That contributed to a more powerful record,” she says of the team effort. “It was challenging at first – There was a sense of a particular degree of satisfaction as a female in music working independently. I’ve had so many times where I finished performing and some guy will say, ‘The other members write great riffs!’ and I think, ‘Listen – I created all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

As their fame has expanded, so has the scope of their stage presentation. “The saying I live by is always that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton chuckles. Initially, she was 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 demonstrate artistic expression,” she says. “From making masks, attire creation, figuring out video editing song visuals … it’s all stuff I have no experience with, but it’s exciting to figure it out as we go.”

As if building the ensemble’s complex backstory (“People are encouraging me to record it because all the ideas are,” Riley says, tapping her head) and stitching garments wasn’t enough, the vocalist learned on her own how to create armor – a challenging endeavor, though she confessedly delegated her completely original reptilian-inspired outfit to a expert from NYC. “It feels like actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Audience Reaction and Challenges

What about the crowd? They embraced the fake blood, toy blades and handmade props with similar excitement as the band. “We played a gig in the Motor City and it seemed like a Renaissance fair,” remembers Riley happily. “The whole crowd was in robes, sheepskin, armor.”

This isn’t to say, however, that life on the road as sword’n’sorcery vagabonds has been smooth. “Each item is constantly breaking and becomes duct-taped together,” Riley says. “Plus I get numerous thoughts as to how I want things to look, but we tour in a bus with restricted capacity. It’s a fascinating test to give the sense like a larger-than-life story, then pack it down into a small space.”

We’ve encountered additional practical issues that would never have plagued fictional warriors. “We experienced an ‘oh shit’ moment when we appeared at a Portuguese festival in the European country and my suitcase – which had my weapon in it – got lost,” says Riley. “It was a terrible situation, because there is no an alternative version of the performance where I don’t have a sword.”

Goals Ahead

In the spirit of a hero, Riley is eager about the what’s next. “I aim to reach as far as possible – let’s do stadiums,” she says. “The main aspect that’s truly essential to me is preserving the handmade style, guaranteeing each detail is handmade. That’s an element I want to keep true to, no matter what we scale to. Additionally, I wish to ride out on a mythical beast at all performances. You know how some artists do the motorcycle thing? The same idea, but using a unicorn.”