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 Castle Rat

“Into the Realm” (King Volume Records, 2024)

Brooklyn, New York City, New York. In come a bunch of freaks in costumes, swords, and all things weird. Well, this ought to be funny and interesting. And indeed, it is. Checking in on the band’s Bandcamp we get this message: “Castle Rat is a Medieval Fantasy Doom Metal band led by the Rat Queen on a mission to expand and defend ‘The Realm’ from those who seek to destroy it. She is joined by The Count, The Plague Doctor, and The Druid. Together they face the relentless wrath of their arch nemesis: Death Herself — The Rat Reaperess”. Well, little old geeky me just frown his eyebrow, looked at it once again, and pressed PLAY.

And into an Old School RPG we were dragged. Musically speaking, Castle Rat sounds Doomy and Old School Occult slow paced Rock n’ Roll, very embedded in Black Sabbathian mystic and atmosphere. Not a huge fan of Doom Metal, but I do love some classic sounding Doom Metal, the one that sounds… like Sabbath and its closest “family members”. Riley Pinkerton’s voice does not, at first, combine with her looks. She looks gentile and almost fragile, until she opens her mouth, and you can almost feel the room become colder and scarier ahahah does it make sense? Probably not. Sort of like Johanna, she also has this ability to rise and take charge. Her presence fills the space, and she makes herself heard, and seen, and noticed. In other words, her voice is what the band’s sound needs.

Overall, love the slow to mid-pace tone of the music, the melodies, the aesthetic is amazing, and Sabbath moments are pearls, just pearls. Cool band, not a very inventive one, but if you are just like me, innovation is something that you just do not want to be present in everything you love, d’you know what I mean? Classic Doom is the way to Doom, and please let it be.


King Volume Records Official Bandcamp - Artists

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