Castle Rat - "Dagger Dragger"

Photo by Olivia Cummings

It's been nearly four years since I decided to see what Riley Pinkerton was up to and discovered her new band, Castle Rat. I was expecting more of the unique singer-songwriter and folk music I loved from Pinkerton, and instead was floored by the "Medieval Fantasy Doom Metal" of her new project. Their upcoming debut album was recorded in a one hundred fifty year old church in Philadelphia that is possibly/definitely haunted. Their latest single, "Dagger Dragger," is this glorious level of over the top doom metal without being cartoonish. It's dark, but also a lot of fun. There's a psychedelic feel throughout the song, which is some of my favorite style of metal. It's a little Dio era Sabbath, a little Gwar, a little bit of Kiss... even if that doesn't sound like your kind of thing, I urge you to try out "Dagger Dragger."

Vocalist Riley Pinkerton says of the upcoming album:

“It’s taken a couple years to see this record through, and it is so exciting and rewarding to finally be welcoming it into the world. A huge part of the time it’s taken to release it has been finding someone we could trust to see our vision and bring Into The Realm into the universe with the same amount of love and passion we poured into it — and King Volume is undoubtedly that label."

You can watch the video for "Dagger Dragger" below. Into the Realm is due out April 12 on King Volume Records, and is available for pre-order through Bandcamp. For more on Castle Rat, check out the band on Instagram.