Dear listener, I’ll tell ya, it sure is difficult to locate new music that is genuine, passionate and entertaining these days. And while I’m 100 % sure that new releases by popular artists like Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift will cure most forms of terminal cancer and bring a lasting peace to the ideologically warring nations of the world… I still can’t help but desire FAR MORE in qualitative standards from modern music. I don’t know about you, but I want something totally fresh and terribly original. I want to uncover a sound that makes me feel like there’s still a small flicker of creativity out there. But… WHAT IS THIS? A campy metal music video featuring a red headed battle-babe wielding a comically large bastard sword!? Lyrics that DON’T make me want to perform instantaneous seppuku!!? Songs and albums that actually attempt to tell an interesting story rather than wasting everyone’s time with lame ass diss tracks and sappy breakup ballads!!!? Sweet googly moogly, I am elated to bring you audio by Castle Rat this week. Folks, this is METALLIC FOLKLORE, and it is a pleasure to share it with you. Smash play on WOLF I from their 2025 album The Bestiary, and if you happen to dig it, join me for even more below.
Hailing from Brooklyn, NY and sporting one of the most inventive musical angles I’ve seen in the last half decade, this is a heavy metal band with a medieval twist. I had actually discovered this group back in 2022 and while I found their shtick to be fascinating, they were clearly still developing their style, and I just didn’t think 2024’s Into the Realm was quite HARD ENOUGH to hold my interest for very long. Just a week ago, YouTube’s algorithm informed me of their newest tunes and music videos, both of which were a marked improvement in evolving sound, spellbinding effectiveness and an even more raucous noise that matches the spirit of even the most culturally epic doom metal works of yesteryear (i.e. anything by early Black Sabbath, RIP Ozzy Osbourne, without you music like this wouldn’t even exist). This is doom metal with a fantasy backdrop infused into its DNA, and while some similar artists have certainly tried this formula before, this act comes with a uniquely strong lady lead, not merely vocalizing but SINGING her way through the motions of a self-crafted tall tale. Castle Rat is fronted by the very lovely Riley Pinkerton who has a great look, a powerful and gorgeous voice, talent with the rhythm guitar and song writing talent beaming out of her ears. In the few interviews I have read with Ms Pinkerton, she alludes to the fact that she used to study and write her own folk music, the building blocks of which are easily transmogrified into a heavier sound with the same mythical tone. She, along with her band mates, turn live shows into something of a theater production; they all dress up and assume the roles of the Rat Queen, a druid, a count, a plague doctor and an evil and sexy Rat Reaperess. Their mission statement is to ‘expand and defend the realm’, which naturally leads to endless possibilities for overarching lore and branching storytelling options for the foreseeable future. This is modern music that is simply a hell of a lot of fun to listen to, and their music videos are crammed with outdated aesthetics making them feel like a TV presentation from the 1980’s. Their vids are jam packed with some of the nerdiest LARPing I’ve seen outside of an actual outdoor D&D session, and I promise it is an absolute visual spectacle that is truly glorious and at times hilarious to behold. If these weirdos are ever playing live in my area in the future, I’ll gladly pay top dollar to stand in the front row and marvel at the staged sword fights, high quality storytelling and all the effort that goes into making this group unforgettable and distinctly charismatic. Just below you’ll find another little metal ditty called WIZARD. Smash play, enjoy and I’ve got plenty more music on the way to tickle your no-no place in 25’.
Watching their recent music videos gave me +20 to my MP and +1 to my WIS modifier. While I can’t stand the state of modern music in general, it’s quirky and interesting bands like this that give me the faintest of hopes that you will still be able to find gold and diamonds in the rarest of niches. Image source: Castle Rat
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