Castle Rat didn’t simply bring their Summon the Beasts tour to The Nile Theater in Mesa, they brought the entire vast realm with them. From the moment the Rat Queen (Riley Pinkerton) stormed the stage armed with her warriors chainmail, body glitter, and sword, Castle Rat made it clear that this was going to be as much theater as it was heavy metal. Pinkerton stood at the center of a world populated by the Count (Franco Vittori), the Druid (Josh Strmic), and the Plague Doctor (Charley Ruddell). The appearance of the Rat Reaperess transformed the stage into a battlefield, culminating in the now-signature confrontation between Death and the Rat Queen. Watching Pinkerton battle her nemesis before falling, only to rise again, gave the performance an almost ritualistic quality—the kind of larger-than-life rock theater once mastered by bands like Alice Cooper and KISS. Even the moments between the spectacle carried the feeling that the audience wasn’t merely watching a band; we had been invited into The Realm, where every song had a beast, every character had a purpose, and death was only another part of the story. The result was a night of massive riffs accompanied by a visual language that felt ripped from the canvas of a lost Frank Frazetta painting or Red Sonja comic: part sword-and-sorcery, part classic doom metal, and part midnight B-movie fever dream all coming together for a performance that felt larger than the intimate walls of The Nile Theater.
Musically, Castle Rat’s doom-heavy foundation provided the perfect soundtrack for the fantasy unfolding in front of the crowd. Tracks like “Dagger Dragger,” “WIZARD,” “Feed the Dream,” Crystal Cave” and “Dragon” moved the narrative forward while giving the band plenty of room to unleash their riffs and command the room. Musical inspirations stem obviously from 70s-era metal and the associated in-unison riffs, and travel all the way to folk guitar tunings, troubadour, and Goliard songs, but never does it feel as if their music is a bit or a schtick. No musicianship is sacrificed here; all of these disparate elements combine into a sound truly unique to Castle Rat. But the lasting impression of Castle Rat’s Mesa appearance wasn’t simply the visual volume or the musicianship on showcase, it was their commitment to the entire performance. In an era when plenty of bands use costumes as an aesthetic accessory or tired tour trappings, Castle Rat has built a massive mythology around theirs. The costumes aren’t decoration; they’re lived in characters. The songs aren’t simply a setlist; they’re sonic chapters in the story they’re crafting. And the stage isn’t just a stage; it’s the portal to a strange, glorious fantasy world with an incredible soundtrack, and one that Castle Rat has clearly only begun to explore.
There’s never been a better time to join the Realm, as Castle Rat is currently on tour through the end of October.
