Castle Rat - The Bestiary

On their second album ‘The Bestiary’, fantasy doom metal band Castle Rat are prepared to unleash a new beast. But can it make it out of the cage?

Neck deep in the 80s heavy metal revival scene, Castle Rat have been making waves from the New York underground since their formation in 2019. The buzz came to a head last year with their debut album ‘Into The Realm’, released just last year to widespread swathes of praise from heavy, doom, and stoner metal enthusiasts — as well as enjoyers of all things fantasy — thanks to their classic riffs and retro-fantasy style. The band have developed a reputation for their theatrical live shows and elaborate costumes, delivering performances that feel like something out of an 80s sword-and-sorcery movie, if that movie spent all of its budget on the score and costumes.

Now, Castle Rat have returned with their newest offering, ‘The Bestiary’. The album starts with ‘PHOENIX I’, on which the band makes use of different effects to achieve their desired magical atmosphere, setting the tone of the record effectively. The opening riff takes a second to build, but when it does, it explodes into a nearly two and a half minute instrumental. The bass, in classic doom metal fashion, is at no point out of earshot. The band are all clearly technically talented and bassist Charlie Ruddell (aka The Plague Doctor) is no exception. His playing has improved since the band’s offering last year and it only gets more interesting throughout.

The album continues in earnest with its second song ‘WOLF I’. The track’s simple yet punchy guitar riffs are the standout, with the drums coming in as a close second. Drummer Joshua Strmic (aka The Druid) and lead guitarist Franco Vittore (aka The Count) both play their parts with aplomb, making their instruments known while leaving enough space for singer Riley Pinkerton’s (aka The Rat Queen) vocals to shine. Her low alto chanting is perhaps the most striking part of the band’s sound, reminiscent of Dorthia Cottrell of Windhand’s ethereal crooning. However, Pinkerton transmutes this to the more upbeat and campy sound that has come to define Castle Rat. Unfortunately for Pinkerton, however, many of the songs throughout the album are mixed in such a way that means her lyrics become almost unintelligible at points. This can be a little frustrating as one of the band’s biggest draws is the story that unfolds as the album progresses. This issue is far more prevalent in some songs than others, the greatest offender being ‘WIZARD’. But while specifics of what is being said aren't especially discernible, Pinkerton’s vocal cadence and tone do benefit the songs considerably.

One of the album’s standouts is ‘SIREN’. Its opening riff is exceptionally strong, and it is the best mixed track in the first half of the album. The band leans away from doom metal and seems to draw more from hair metal, such as Def Leppard. This works surprisingly well for the band. The guitar solo is fast, explosive and doesn't overstay its welcome. In addition to the improved mixing, ‘SIREN’ begins with simpler riffs and drumbeats, allowing the latter half of the song to shine. As a concept, glam metal works well for the band. By fully embracing the campy and overtly performative nature of the sub-genre, Castle Rat completely circumvents the cringe-inducing machismo that so many glam metal bands and musicians have fallen victim to — offering a solution to hair metal’s biggest issue.

At the halfway point, the album switches gears and takes a slower, more somber approach. ‘PATH OF MOSS’ is one of the most beautiful songs on the record, with a minute and a half of wailing lead guitar and an understated, yet complementary synth. Together, they produce a wistful, ambient palette cleanser that frames the rest of the album. Immediately following this is ‘CRYSTAL CAVE’, which continues upon the atmosphere that ‘PATH OF MOSS 'starts, allowing for the synth, which now sounds like a mellotron, to shine through. Pinkerton’s voice strengthens the instrumental enormously, reminiscent of the soundtracks for The Witcher games with its sudden, swooping high pitched synth and epic, booming drums. This song does, however, fall victim to imbalanced mixing encountered earlier in the record. 

While every member of this band is unquestionably talented, there are points throughout the record in which the instruments pile on top of each other to create a wall of sound that feels off-kilter. This doesn’t allow the music itself to shine through consistently, as the sound itself very often isn’t big enough which can make the songs often feel a little constricted — which becomes detrimental to the album as a whole. The simplicity of many of the riffs should absolutely be a feather in its cap and the fact that Vittore does not overdo his part is one of the most respectable aspects of the band’s style, but combined with the dicey arrangement and often subdued sound, the individual songs struggle to maintain their own identity and they can blend into one unless you are actively concentrating on the music in front of you.

The second half album continues with its Witcher-esqe sound with ‘WOLF II’, a ghostly bardic number that brings the synth/mellotron into the limelight to great effect. Pinkerton’s vocals are haunting, and her vocal control is on full display here. The song is slow and relatively short, but does not feel remotely like an afterthought. It’s the kind of song that you want to listen to by the hearth of an inn on a road less travelled. It is somewhat simple in its composition compared to a lot of the other songs on the album, but every part feels as though it is correctly placed. It continues to beg the question of whether or not Castle Rat are at their best during their more ambient segments. This question can continue to be pondered during ‘SUMMONING SPELL’, a low tempo melody with spectral vocals and some of the best effects that the band has used thus far, making the song feel almost like a whisper on the winds.

The question is then blown to pieces as ‘Sun Song’ starts. It makes full use of the motifs present throughout the album to bring it back to the beginning without losing the more dour, doom inspired playing, which makes it the most sonically interesting song in the album. The opening riff is catchy and fun, but also heavy as fuck. The overall production is better here as well, it now feels deliberately sludgy as opposed to uncoordinated, which a few songs are guilty of. The vocal harmonies sound more epic in scale and the breakdown is phenomenal, making use of each member’s talents immaculately to create a sonic fortress that you would want to listen to while fighting the Nameless King himself. The album ends with ‘PHOENIX II’, another ambient track heavy on the mellotron. It is over almost as soon as it begins, but it does a fine job of wrapping the album up.

While Castle Rat is undoubtedly an excellent band who have managed to pull off the herculean task of creating an interesting, engaging fantasy themed doom metal rock opera for the second time, ‘The Bestiary’ is let down by inconsistent mixing and occasionally by its simplicity, making it hard for each song to stand on its own — something that the band  managed to do effectively on ‘Into The Realm’. As a consequence, the album somewhat failed to deliver the grandiose sound that it perhaps intended to have. Despite this, they have created an enjoyable foray into a fantasy world and have been able to show off their considerable musical talents while doing so. Ultimately, with ‘The Bestiary’, Castle Rat have shown their ability to breathe new life into classic heavy metal while still feeling unique and fresh, which many of their peers have failed to do — making for a commendable effort.