{"id":172266,"date":"2025-09-21T17:37:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T17:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/172266\/"},"modified":"2025-09-21T17:37:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T17:37:08","slug":"castle-rat-the-bestiary-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/172266\/","title":{"rendered":"Castle Rat – The Bestiary Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"New York\u2019s Castle Rat generated buzz off the back of their impressive slab of fantasy-inspired doom rock featured on 2024s Into the Realm. A fuzzy, female-fronted doom act with sword and sorcery shtick and a theatrical, unabashedly old school bent, the debut featured tight, infectious songwriting and enough retro flair and heavy metal swagger to rise above the familiar, throwback nature of their craft. Of course, the debut had its detractors, with their theatrical antics, coupled with a not especially original sound, failing to match the hype for some listeners enamored with the heavily populated throwback doom rock\/metal scenes. Striking while the iron\u2019s hot, Castle Rat return in quick time with sophomore album, The Bestiary. A quickfire turnaround is a welcome thing, though creates a sense of trepidation of rushed work. Riley Pinkerton (aka The Rat Queen) and her fellow minions return full of fire and ready to cast their doomy spell for the second time.<\/p>\n

Castle Rat hit the ground running with their warm and cozy retro sound intact, albeit featuring a livelier, louder and more propulsive reiteration of the sound established on the debut. Whether listeners find their whole deal too gimmicky or not, it\u2019s tough to doubt the authenticity and passion for their chosen style. Castle Rat channel a \u201970s psychedelic haze, prominent Black Sabbath influence, and share surface similarities with acts such as the underrated and enchanting Purson, and modern stoner doom merchants Green Lung. The Bestiary is an altogether harder-hitting and boisterous entity compared to the debut, jacking up the NWoHM and fantasy-inspired bombast for extra crunch. \u201cPhoenix I\u201d unfurls in a slow-burning, dramatic and deliberate fashion, setting the scene for Pinkerton and co to unleash their full fury.<\/p>\n

The Bestiary\u2019s increased gallop and fiery guitar work ignite around the poppier sensibilities and smooth central doom grooves and prevalently catchy vocal hooks. Although not the most distinctive frontwoman in the biz, Pinkerton\u2019s silky vocal hooks and confident, commanding delivery continue to a key focal point. Right out the gate, Castle Rat stockpile big-hitting rockers, courtesy of the bluesy doom swagger and earworm hooks of rollicking gems, \u201cWolf I\u201d and \u201cWizard.\u201d \u201cSiren\u201d keeps the good times rolling, employing tense rhythmic builds and seductively sinister vocals to cast its spell. There is an easy-to-like simplicity and infectiousness to Castle Rat\u2019s songwriting that shines when the band\u2019s craftsmanship is at its best. Dialing up the epic-ness and adding extra crunch and pepper creates a burlier, higher-octane effort. Within the rowdier experience, Franco Vittore (aka The Count) belts out some blazing solos, while lending doomy weight to straightforward rockers (\u2018Serpent, \u201cDragon\u201d) and a grinding, ominous touch to \u201cUnicorn.\u201d Castle Rat\u2019s willingness to experiment outside their comfort zone results in an adventurous, though mixed bag. The softer material nails mysterious, foreboding atmospheres and changes pace, though these shorter pieces are generally less engaging than the album\u2019s rockier fare.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Amidst The Bestiary\u2019s endearing and infectious songwriting, drawbacks appear, tainting an otherwise enjoyable opus. The bricked mastering and loud production detract from the music\u2019s warmth and endearing charms. This issue is felt in numerous areas. The drums lack punch, the mix is squashed and muddied, while dynamic shifts, such as acoustic forays, or the noisy, climactic cacophony on \u201cUnicorn\u201d and \u201cSun Song\u201d are sapped of their power, dulling impact. Another notable change from the debut is the increased runtime, climbing to nearly fifty minutes, in contrast to its predecessor\u2019s refreshing efficiency. There are momentum drops and pacing issues. These factors and the front-loaded nature of the album contribute to bloat. An intro, outro, mid-album instrumental piece (\u201cPath of Moss\u201d) and three decent, acoustic-driven folkier tunes have their merits but combined contribute to pacing issues and overall padding.<\/p>\n

Into the Realm was an impressive debut outing, signaling Castle Rat as a fresh force pedaling retro and fantasy-clad doom to strong effect. The Bestiary marks an ambitious, solid, if flawed follow-up. Significant production concerns and the aforementioned pacing issues, bloat, and an uneven backend detract from an album that reaffirms Castle Rat as a talented band with old school values and a vision to diversify their formula with intriguing results. While not everything hits the mark, there is still much to unpack, some killer tunes, and fun to be had. Hopefully Castle Rat can channel their creativity into a more consistent, tighter effort next time round.<\/p>\n

\ufeff<\/p>\n

Rating: 3.0\/5.0
DR: 3 | Format Reviewed: 2304 kbps (Lossless)
Label: Blues Funeral Recordings<\/a>
Websites: bandcamp<\/a> | Facebook<\/a>
Releases Worldwide: September 19th, 2025<\/p>\n

\n\tGive in to Your Anger:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York\u2019s Castle Rat generated buzz off the back of their impressive slab of fantasy-inspired doom rock featured…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":172267,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[2967,20792,9673,89,103005,103006,12028,88,103007,25605,216,103008,103009,899,900,103010],"class_list":{"0":"post-172266","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-2967","9":"tag-3-0","10":"tag-american-metal","11":"tag-black-sabbath","12":"tag-blues-funeral-recordings","13":"tag-castle-rat","14":"tag-doom-metal","15":"tag-entertainment","16":"tag-green-lung","17":"tag-heavy-metal","18":"tag-music","19":"tag-nwobhm","20":"tag-purson","21":"tag-review","22":"tag-reviews","23":"tag-the-bestiary"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}