Castle Rat battered down the door with last year’s debut. Now they’ve had some time to build a fuller armory.
Release date: September 19, 2025 | King Volume Records | Instagram | YouTube | Bandcamp
It is deeply unsurprising that I am enamored with Brooklyn doom metal act Castle Rat. Much like editor-in-chief David Rodriguez, I love a costume band, I love high fantasy silliness, and I love nasty sludge. Castle Rat was essentially made in a lab for my enjoyment. Their debut Into the Realm was one of my favorite albums in 2024. Needless to say, I have been very, very curious to see if The Bestiary would live up to both its predecessor and the relentless internet hype machine. I think it does, for the most part. The Bestiary is longer, weirder, fuller – and both builds off the successes of their previous work, and occasionally deepens the, albeit minor, failures.
The Bestiary is a loose concept album, detailing the journey of the central character and frontwoman The Rat Queen, portrayed by Riley Pinkerton, on a quest not unlike the tarot’s Major Arcana. Each track represents the obstacle, creature, or occasionally a person at hand. This is a fun setup and works well for a band like this, who pretty much look like the three-dimensional equivalent of a Frank Frazetta painting. The entire affair feels a bit like high-fantasy Peter and the Wolf, relying heavily on leitmotif, and that is not a bad thing in the slightest.
The riffs are pretty fucking killer on this thing. It’s nice to enjoy some metal that doesn’t get too far up its own ass in the weirdo prog sense. These central hooks are catchy, straightforward, and memorable, which adds a lot to the storybook nature of the album as a whole. The lead singles “WOLF I” and “WIZARD”, which are coincidentally the first full-length tracks on the album, are guaranteed to be stuck in your head for some time. I’ve also come to enjoy “SIREN” a lot for its mesmerizing vocal chanting and slow ramp up into madness as a very impressive guitar solo takes us into the next fairytale encounter.
From an inspiration standpoint, Into the Realm felt a lot like the midpoint between Black Sabbath and Jefferson Airplane. The latter remains here, mostly due to Pinkerton’s belting, but the general sonic approach on The Bestiary leans more 80s than 70s, with Dio at the helm on tracks like the ungodly good “SERPENT”. There’s also an undeniable Sleep influence here, with “DRAGON” echoing… well, “Dragonaut”. This focus on a fuller sound, driven by the production of the guitars and the riffs themselves, is a great step up for the band.
Castle Rat also took the opportunity to expand their palette a bit beyond the confines of relatively cut-and-dry doom metal with their sophomore effort. “CRYSTAL CAVE” is a standout due to the creative symphonic instrumentation, almost taking the group into Nightwish territory, if you played one of their records at, like, 15 rpm. Bookends “PHOENIX I” and “PHOENIX II” go full tilt Renaissance Faire, with pounding tom drums marching us along in the first, and solemn acoustic guitar bringing us home in the second, perhaps short a few members in our army.
I also appreciate that Castle Rat made some production tweaks on The Bestiary, likely due to working with producer Randall Dunn, notable for his previous credits with Sunn O))). They’ve managed to maintain a convincingly retro sound while making sure the actual instruments and vocals come through clear as day (mostly). Into the Realm could have passed for a tape from 1978, and while that is very fun to visit, after a while, the blown-out drums do start to grate on you. The new album avoids this nicely, more suggesting the throwback vibe than making it completely accurate, for better or for worse.
I do, however, feel like some of the tracks on this record come across like half-formed ideas as opposed to fully developed songs. Into the Realm had its fair share of instrumental interludes, which is completely acceptable, especially in the concept album sphere, but it is a bit disappointing to see The Bestiary rely on these as well. Even non-instrumental tracks like “WOLF II” and “SUMMONING SPELL” don’t quite get enough steam going to warrant their runtime or general inclusion. “WOLF II” is more forgivable, as the acoustic focus and general madrigal sensibility are unique and fitting to the theme, but many of the other tracks bleed into each other or devolve into simple repetition instead of having complete arcs as songs in their own right.
Speaking of “SUMMONING SPELL”, I have a minor bone to pick with this track in particular. Within the logic of the story, this song should really be the ‘calm before the storm’ moment where our hero gathers her power to defeat whatever the fuck she’s fighting. But due to Pinkerton’s signature reedy tone, the layered harmonies, and the heavy use of reverb, I have no idea what on earth she is saying. I know that’s not a huge deal for many listeners, but the lyrics really feel like the point of this track. I can’t summon jack shit if I don’t know the words. Sorry.
It is a good sign that I can be nitpicky, though, and despite a few skips on repeat listens, The Bestiary has been in heavy rotation for me. This is peak Sword Music™, you know? This record is straightforward and fun, interesting enough to keep me engaged, and full of stank-face moments. Now the real question is: Castle Rat x Critical Role collboration when?
