Medieval fantasy themes, swords and wizards have always been part of heavy metal and I have to admit, I'm a big fan when all this come together.
So when a band comes along that goes on stage completely in costumes and make-up and whose members have names like The Rat Queen (vocals/guitars), The Count (guitars), The Plague Doctor (bass), and The Druid (drums), my interest is immediately piqued. The Brooklyn-based four-piece Castle Rat has now released their debut and is like a time machine to the 80s, when metal still told heroic stories and fists (instead of smartphones) were raised in the air in front of the stage - even if their sound leans more towards (proto)doom than classic heavy metal - in other words: Medieval fantasy doom metal!
Despite the names and costumes, this band is not a parody - Castle Rat is made up of gifted musicians with a great concept and they deliver one of the best heavy doom albums of the year!
Into the Realm is almost 30 minutes full of Iommi-esque riffing, real neck-breakers (Feed the Dreams, DaggerDragger), mesmerizing melodies (The Mirror, Cry for me) and a few real surprises (like a freaking cool 1 minute bass solo song Resurrector) - Finest Sabbath worship with vibes of Pentagram, Witchfinder General to Rainbow and Manilla Road.
For me an album that really did everything right and gets ten out of ten points.
-Helge Neumann
