Heavy metal music has come a long way since its inception yet it has never been more true to its form than when embracing its overtly ridiculous nature and remembering that deep down, its all a bit of escapism and fun. Welcome to Castle Rat who take this and run to the hills, and then some. A self-named medieval metal band, and led by the formidable Rat Queen, they take all the trappings of 80’s heavy metal, and stir it into one big pot of doom. Now, with second album, they present what they call The Bestiary featuring odes to creatures within their world. Prepare to embrace the full on sound of Castle Rat. The ultimate in medieval heavy metal.
Ridiculous notions aside, they are actually an extremely good doom band, and the riffs that slide out of them are pretty colossal. Songs like ‘Wolf’ and ‘Wizard’ churn out that low end rumble, yet contain a wonderful sense of melody which places them in the early Black Sabbath bracket. The breakdown alone on ‘Wizard’ is worthy of a Bill Ward jazz break. It’s a not too subtle moment which serves to accelerate the song forward.
The production on The Bestiary is loud, proud, and immense, as any metal album should be. Rat Queen’s vocals are everywhere like some dark sorceress storyteller, grasping hold of our attentions and pulling us right up to her face with a weirding look. The epitome of rock goddess crossed with Kate Bush weirdness, it’s a stunning foil to the epic music within.
Soon to grace the main stage at next years Bloodstock Festival, they are a band unstoppable within metal circles at the moment and whilst their medieval schtick may not pass over to a mainstream crowd, they are sure to be embraced further by that most discerning of music fans, the metalhead. It’s what the genre is all about. Ridiculous, pompous, over the top fantasy delivered by musicians who understand how to create a pure metal epic. Catch them now before everyone else does. You can then say you were there at the start and look cool amongst your metal friends. The Bestiary is about to be unleashed!
