The Bestiary
A plunge into the dungeons of Castle Rat
When I talk about Castle Rat, I’m not just talking about a heavy metal band. I’m talking about a collective that feels like it stepped straight out of a D&D campaign, carrying with it an aesthetic that blends medieval fantasy, theatricality, and a sound that resonates as if echoing through stone walls. Since their emergence, the proposal has been clear: to create their own universe, where music, visuals, and narrative walk side by side. Now, with The Bestiary, they deliver not just an album, but full immersion into a parallel world.
The weight of the ancient forge
Listening to The Bestiary is like walking through rusted gates that guard stories of forgotten monsters and warriors. The sound carries the classic DNA of doom and ‘70s heavy, but it doesn’t feel like a dusty copy. There’s something alive, pulsating, that makes each riff sound like a freshly sharpened blade. The slightly raw production helps preserve that aura, as if we were facing an ancient tapestry where every thread carries the marks of time.
Riffs as spells
What captivated me most here was how the riffs work almost like enchantments. They don’t just sustain the songs, they create entire atmospheres: sometimes slow and crushing, as if conjuring creatures from the depths, other times faster, summoning open-field battles. There’s no rush, but there’s also no boredom. Each track has its own inner beast, and it’s up to us to decipher it.
The voice that leads the hunt
The vocalist is the narrator of this musical grimoire. Her voice shifts between hypnotic and commanding, guiding the journey like a guardian of the stories being told. It’s not just singing, it’s interpretation. Every inflection brings a layer of drama that enhances the immersion. It feels as if we’re standing before a master of ceremonies at a pagan ritual.
An album that is a portal
The most fascinating thing about The Bestiary is that it works like a portal. You don’t simply listen to the record, you step inside it. By the end, you’re left with the sensation of having taken part in a saga, maybe without fully understanding all the symbols, yet still marked by the atmosphere. It’s an album that resists background listening: it demands presence, asking to be experienced as a complete journey.
Conclusion: a new legend in the making
The Bestiary shows that Castle Rat doesn’t want to be just another revivalist band. They have a clear artistic project: to build their own sonic mythology. The result is an album that feels heavy, theatrical, and immersive, able to please both those who crave crushing riffs and those who enjoy a healthy dose of fantasy in their music. I walked away from the first listen with the feeling of having leafed through a medieval bestiary, filled with impossible creatures, each page accompanied by a riff that hammered the soul.
