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

Although many rockers have borrowed from high fantasy, only a handful have truly lived the enchanted lifestyle. Admittedly, they could embellish their album sleeves with ghouls, beasts, manacled maidens and strong fighters, but did a member ever needed to recover a missing horn from a unicorn from a frost-covered ground in the midst of winter? Did anyone devoted hours squinting in the rear of a tour bus, repairing their own metal mesh?

Living the Fantasy

Created in 2019, the Brooklyn-based Castle Rat have encountered these exact challenges and more as they embody their heroic dreams. From medieval-inspired, earworm-heavy tunes to eye-popping concerts, outfit creation, visuals and album art, they’re not just a rock act as a complete sensory journey.

“The band wasn’t intended to be a outfit with characters,” states singer, guitar player, blade-handler and visionary Riley Pinkerton as the group’s vehicle drives from a full-capacity concert in a German city to a second one in Aschaffenburg – they’re also doing several shows in the UK this week. “Initially, we performed twice and were scheduled on a Halloween gig, where I made a last-minute decision to dress up. The entire setup was completely self-made, but we had so much fun and the feeling in the room was electric. I realized, ‘Imagine if we could have such enjoyment always?’”

The Band’s Evolution

From that point on, the ensemble – which showcases Pinkerton as the “Rodent Monarch” together with a plague doctor (bassist), proud bloodsucker (guitarist) and mysterious druid (percussionist) – haven’t looked back. The Bestiary, the group’s sophomore release, evokes images of famous rock groups joining forces to fight their path through a Frank Frazetta fantasy world – a heroic opus that positions them on the brink of far grander things.

The release was a new experience for Pinkerton in that she invited input to her collaborators. “It made it a lot stronger record,” she says of the collaborative process. “I struggled at first – There was a sense of a specific level of pride being a woman in music working independently. There’ve been numerous occasions where I’ve got off stage and an audience member will say, ‘The band compose cool melodies!’ and I respond, ‘Hey – I created all that.’”

Artistic Expression and Vision

As the band’s stature has increased, so has the breadth of their visual elements. “The saying I live by is always that if an effort matters, it’s worth overdoing,” Pinkerton laughs. At first, she had been on track for a university studies in art before hesitating at the possibility of heavy loans. “The exciting part about Castle Rat is there’s numerous methods to demonstrate artistic expression,” she says. “Whether it’s crafting disguises, outfit planning, learning how to edit music videos … these are all things I am unfamiliar with, but it’s fun to figure it out in the moment.”

As if creating the band’s intricate lore (“The team is pushing me to write it down because it’s all in here,” Riley says, pointing to her head) and sewing costumes were insufficient, the singer learned on her own how to make chainmail – a challenging endeavor, though she confessedly entrusted her all-new scale armor design to a expert from NYC. “It feels like actual armour,” she smiles proudly.

Fan Response and Obstacles

What about the crowd? They loved the stage blood, foam swords and handmade props with as much gusto as the band. “We performed a concert in the Motor City and it looked like a Renaissance fair,” reminisces Riley with affection. “The whole crowd was in robes, wool garments, metal wear.”

However, this doesn’t mean, however, that life on the road as fantasy adventurers has been easy. “Everything is always failing and gets fixed temporarily,” Riley says. “Additionally I’ll have numerous thoughts as to how I want things to look, but we tour in a bus with only so much space. It’s a unique problem to give the sense like a mythic tale, then compress it into a small space.”

We’ve encountered further organizational challenges that would never have plagued mythic characters. “There was an ‘oh shit’ moment when we performed at a Portuguese festival in Portugal and my luggage – which had my weapon in it – was misplaced,” says Riley. “It was a nightmare, because there’s not an backup plan of the concert where I lack a weapon.”

Future Ambitions

Like a true warrior queen, Riley is gung-ho about the future. “My goal is to the top – we should play huge arenas,” she says. “The key element that’s deeply meaningful to me is keeping the handmade style, ensuring each detail is custom-made. This is a feature I want to remain faithful to, whatever we achieve. Additionally, I want to ride out on a unicorn every night. Remember how legends do the motorcycle thing? That, but using a unicorn.”