Wielding fantasy weapons and splashing fake blood, the New Yorkers have even learned how to make chainmail outfits – and they’re already aiming to conquer stadiums
W
hile many a rocker has cribbed from high fantasy, few have truly walked the walk. Sure, they might bedeck their album sleeves with ghouls, goblins, manacled maidens and brawny barbarians, but did a member of Cirith Ungol ever have to retrieve a missing unicorn horn from a snowy field in the depths of winter? Has Yngwie Malmsteen spent time squinting in the back of a tour bus, repairing his own chainmail?
Formed in 2019, Brooklyn’s Castle Rat have had to face both these scenarios and more as they live out their epic fantasies. From heraldic, earworm-heavy anthems to eye-popping live shows, costume design, videos and album art, they’re not so much a metal band as a full immersive experience.
“Castle Rat wasn’t meant to be a costumed concept band,” says singer, guitarist, sword-wielder and creative overlord Riley Pinkerton as the band’s tour van speeds from a sold-out gig in Cologne to another in Aschaffenburg – they’re also doing five gigs in the UK this week. “We played two shows and got booked on a Halloween gig, 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 thought, ‘What if we could have this much fun every time?’”
