Nothing in life is certain except castles and rats.
I really liked Into the Realm. As someone who really got into metal through doom, there was so much about that album that made me feel good. Bluesy trad-doom riffs, that warm fuzzy Orange amps sound, the sword and sorcery themes, it all reminded me of the autumn of 2019 when I really took the plunge into this stuff. It was all fresh, it was all unfamiliar, and it was all just so cool to me. I felt like I’d finally found the music I’d been looking for my whole life. I get really nostalgic for those times. Last year Castle Rat brought a little bit of that feeling back to me, for which I’m very grateful. Needless to say, their follow-up record has been one I’ve been very excited for.
One of the things worth noting about The Bestiary is that it’s produced and recorded very differently from Into the Realm. For their debut record, they recorded in a long-abandoned and allegedly haunted church in Pennsylvania, which contributed to a lot of the raw, spacious sound of that album. Then the mastering was done by J.J. Golden, whose name you may recognize from his work with records from Big Business and The Sword—some pretty big names in the stoner doom scene. This time, Castle Rat chose to crowdfund their studio costs in order to hire an even bigger name: Randall Dunn.
Dunn has worked with some absolutely incredible artists (Sunn O))), Boris, Pallbearer, and Wolves in the Throne Room, just to name a few). He’s no stranger to doom, which makes him a great fit for Castle Rat. So I assume it’s not his fault that The Bestiary is mixed so poorly.
Photo courtesy of The Philadelphia Inquirer
Let’s start with the basics. This thing is bricked. I mean, the whole record is just so LOUD all the time. It feels really claustrophobic as well. With the possible exception of Riley’s vocals, nothing really has much room to breathe (I’ve got some further beef with the vocals, but we’ll get to that in a minute). There’s no real change in dynamics or tempo either, and it’s pretty light on riffs as well. Even after my first listen through Into the Realm, I could easily recall the main riff from “Dagger Dragger” and the opening of “Feed the Dream,” but on The Bestiary, everything from “Wizard” through “Wolf II” feels the same to me. Once “Dragon” comes around, things start feeling a little more exciting, but even from there it’s kind of just more of the same. Occasionally they’ll find occasion to kick it up a notch (the ending of “Siren,” for example), but most of the album is spent plodding through basic melodies and chord changes. If you ask me, Castle Rat is best when they’re rockin,’ and I’d have liked to hear a little more of it, especially with The Bestiary being a solid 16 minutes longer than their debut.
Getting back to the vocals, somehow they always feel like they’re too much. I think part of it is because the double-tracking is so noticeable, especially with a mix as cramped as this one. And maybe this is just a me thing, but I find the vocal harmonies on this record pretty grating. To top it all off, they’re absolutely marinated in reverb, so catching what’s going on in the background can feel like a full-time job (spoilers though, everything else is soaked in it too). Obviously with where it was recorded, Into the Realm was reverb-y too, but there was still space to breathe. It felt warm and it felt natural. With The Bestiary—and maybe this is in part because of the album cover—it really does feel colder and more synthetic.
I want to close this review out by saying some positive things. There are some solid tracks on this album. “Wolf I,” “Dragon,” “Summoning Spell,” and “Sun Song” are all pretty fun, and most of these songs at least have a neat moment or two. If you get the chance to see Castle Rat live, do it. Their live shows are incredible and it’s fun to be able to keep up with the story. The props and costuming are really sweet (though I do not envy their bassist for having to play in a plague mask every night. It’s gotta be hot in there, right?) and their tour shirts are always sick. With so many of my issues with The Bestiary boiling down to poor mixing and production, I’m going to guess that seeing them live will be a much better listening experience. And you can bet your chain mail socks I won’t be missing out on seeing them live next week.
2/5 Flaming Toilets ov Hell
The Bestiary is out now on Bandcamp.
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