CASTLE RAT LIVE PHOTO GALLERY
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Review and photos by Greg Maki
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How the realm has grown here in Baltimore. About a year ago, fantasy doom metal act Castle Rat played to a few hundred people at the very divey Ottobar. In September 2026, the band was to kick off its “Summon the Beasts” headline tour at Baltimore Soundstage, with a capacity of about 1,000. Within a few days of tickets going on sale back in June, demand was so great that the show moved to the nearby, 1,500-capacity Nevermore Hall, where it quickly sold out.
The day of the show, eager fans—many of whom were costumed as wizards or in general medieval-style garb—lined up early outside the doors, then once inside queued up again for merch. This stage of a band’s career, when you can see it breaking big in real time, is the most exciting for fans, when the sense of discovery and surprise is intoxicating. And yes, if you haven’t been paying attention, Castle Rat is breaking in a big way in 2026, driven by viral videos of live performances, mostly on European festival stages, and a North American spring theater tour opening for Amon Amarth and Dethklok. So for many in attendance, this likely was their first full-on journey into the realm, where the Rat Queen (aka vocalist/guitarist Riley Pinkerton) and her companions—the Plague Doctor (bassist Charley Ruddell), the Count (guitarist France Vittore) and the Druid (drummer Joshua Strmic)—must defend against the embodiment of death itself, the Rat Reaperess.
Bringing to life Castle Rat’s second album, 2025’s “The Bestiary,” the stage show featured an assortment of beasts—including a wolf, unicorn, dragon and snake—along with the wizard collecting them for his menagerie and, of course, the Rat Reaperess, who battled the Rat Queen to the death at the set’s climax. Clearly, the show has grown to fill the bigger stages on which the band now finds itself, but the theatrics never outshone the music. Castle Rat’s doom metal dirges with hints of classic rock brightness held it all together, and with bass, guitar and drum solos sprinkled throughout the set, each member had a deserved moment in the spotlight.
CASTLE RAT SET LIST: “Phoenix I,” “Dagger Dragger,” “Wizard,” “Wolf I,” bass solo, “Feed the Dream,” “Unicorn,” guitar solo, “Path of Moss,” “Fresh Fur,” “Crystal Cave,” “Dragon”/drum solo, “Serpent,” (encore) “Cry for Me,” “Siren”
Portland, Oregon’s Unto Others served as direct support and seems to be on its way to bigger things, as well. The band has riffs galore and a budding star in lead guitarist Sebastian Silva. (I’d like to see him featured even more.) Solo act Wraith Knight kicked off the evening with keyboard/synthesizer music that would be more at home as the soundtrack to the kind of fantasy movie that so clearly has inspired Castle Rat than it was in a live setting. While it’s easy to see why Wraith Knight was chosen for the tour—and I respect the choice—it’s maybe not the best fit for a metal show.
Tickets are running scarce for the remainder of the tour, but this is one not to be missed. Castle Rat may well be the next big thing in metal, and the stages will only get bigger from here.
LINKS:
www.castlerat.com
www.untoothers.net
wraithknight.bandcamp.com
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