Riley Pinkerton: CASTLE RAT - Full Performance (Live on KEXP)

Castle Rat

Band Members & Guitarists

Riley Pinkerton ("The Rat Queen") – Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar
Franco Vittore ("The Count") – Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals
Charley Ruddell ("The Plague Doctor") – Bass Guitar
Joshua Strmic ("The All-Seeing Druid") – Drums, Percussion

Note: While Riley Pinkerton fronts the band as "The Rat Queen" on rhythm guitar and lead vocals, co-guitarist Franco Vittore handles lead guitar duties ("The Count"). (Henry Black previously served as lead guitarist from 2019 to 2024).

Extensive Biography

Castle Rat is an American medieval fantasy doom and stoner metal band formed in Brooklyn, New York, in October 2019. Known for their immersive world-building, high-concept lore, and theatrical live performances inspired by Frank Frazetta's fantasy artwork and classic Black Sabbath grooves, the group centers their universe around defending "The Realm" from their arch-nemesis, "The Rat Reaperess".

Fronted by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Riley Pinkerton (daughter of renowned 1980s session guitarist John McCurry), Castle Rat quickly captured the underground heavy music imagination. Armed with her pearl-white Gibson SG, Pinkerton anchors the band's thick, down-tuned doom riffs alongside lead guitarist Franco Vittore. Following early underground traction and singles recorded in unconventional spaces like an abandoned Philadelphia church, the band released their breakout debut album, Into the Realm (2024), which topped Bandcamp's hard rock charts and amassed millions of streams.

The band's momentum surged further with their sophomore album, The Bestiary (2025), recorded with producer Randall Dunn (Sunn O))), Boris). Praised by critics and landing on prominent year-end lists (including Rolling Stone's best metal albums of 2025), Castle Rat combines heavy riff-worship with elaborate sword-and-sorcery stage theatrics, establishing themselves as a premier force in modern theatrical heavy metal.