I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: May 14, 2026] Amon Amarth

I have really enjoyed going to Amon Amarth shows.  When this one was announced I was interested partly because I was interested in Dethklok (since they are a cartoon band).  But the tickets were really expensive.  Until Live Nation had a sale.  I think I got them for $35 instead of $80.

The last time my son and I went to Wind Creek, it sucked bad.  The parking was a nightmare, the crowd was smelly and the place basically sucked.  He said he’d never want to go back, but he made an exception for this show.  And once again, the parking was terrible,  At least we found a spot on the main concourse this time.  But it took us a while to get into the venue (jeez, the security line is insane).

So we walked in right as Castle Rat had started.  I didn’t know much about them although I had listened to a song or two.  I had also heard that their live show was fantastic.  So I did want to check them out.

And, in a nutshell, yes, their live show is amazing.

There are four membrs of the band and each have a role that they play :

• Riley Pinkerton (“The Rat Queen”) – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
• Franco Vittore (“The Count”) – lead guitar, backing vocals
• Charley Ruddell (“The Plague Doctor”) – bass
• Joshua Strmic (“The Druid”) – drums

They play heavy, old school metal–kind of doom metal, but with a nifty groove.  And with a story!

The Rat Queen (who has a guitar and a sword), along with the Count and The Plague Doctor defend the Realm from “The Rat Reaperess” (Madeline Wright).  Yes, Wright doesn’t play anything, she’s a character.  And I loved how much the band gets into the story.  So much so that after rocking out to the opening song Dagger Dragger, The Rat Queen told us the story.  I was so impressed that Riley can stand up in front of largely male metal crowd in a fairly skimpy outfit and… tell a story.  The crowd was rapt.  And it’s because she sells the whole scene–mail bikini, downy 80s blowout and powdery makeup.  Riley writes all of the lyrics and creates the costumes.  She clearly loves this.

The story begins with the Rat Queen greeting us and welcoming us to The Realm.  Music plays in the background–not sure if it’s written out.

The story is something along the lines of the Rat Reaperess bit The Count  The Plague Doctor (who wears a plague doctor mask while playing bass) healed him (with a potion of vampiric blood).  He is now immortal.  But the Reaperess is out for revenge.  The Reaperess came out in a cloak and then reveals that she is wearing a very tight leather bodice–so the D&D fantasy women are out in force here.  The Reaperess wants to take a soul for the one that was taken from her (The Count).

Later the actual Castle Rat appears–a giant rat with white eyes and leathery wings.  The Castle Rat sent the three into a dark portal.  The All Seeing Druid welcomes them to The Realm and then plays a super heavy drum opening to Siren.

It was easy to forget about the music because so much was happening on stage, but the mid-song riff in WIZARD was terrific and The Count can really shred.  t was fascinating that they only played four songs.  I read recently that when they headline they have a full 90 minute story that they play out.  But for this tour, they just truncated it to the bare minimum of a story.

The Reaperess wants revenge and we can save The Realm by chanting In this Realm when she chants Now is Forever.  It seems like it worked byt soon enough the Reaperess comes out and there is an actual sword vs scythe fight on stage.  Meanwhile the band is rocking out (some wicked soloing from The Count).  There are some genuine surprises in the story and by the end everyone was fully on board–chanting and throwing fists in the air.  Talk about indoctrinating a fanbase.  We are all part of Castle Rat now.  And yes, I’d love to see them do a full 90 minute show.

“In this realm, now is forever.”

♣ The Bestiary (2025)
⇒ Into the Realm (2024)