Castle Rat is a Medieval Fantasy Doom Metal band hailing from NYC led by “The Rat Queen,” Riley Pinkerton, on rhythm guitar and lead vocals. On her mission to expand and defend “The Realm” from those who seek to destroy it, The Rat Queen is joined by “The Count,” Franco Vittore, on lead guitar and backing vocals; “The Plague Doctor,” Charley Ruddell, on bass; and “The All-Seeing Druid,” Joshua Strmic on drums. Together they face the relentless wrath of their arch nemesis: Death, Herself — “The Rat Reaperess.”

Along their journey Castle Rat has played in support of Monolord (SE), Firebreather (SE), Stonefield (AU), & Heavy Temple (PA), appeared at Desertfest NYC (Melvins/Boris/Colour Haze) and toured the American Southwest in August 2023. Since the band’s pre-plague inception in October 2019, Castle Rat has released their debut album, “Into The Realm” on King Volume Records. The record has garnered over 1,000,000 Spotify streams and reigned supreme as the #1 Best-Selling Hard Rock/All Rock Album on Bandcamp throughout album preorders and its release date in April 2024.

Beyond this, the band has curated a riveting, interactive, lore-laden live performance, complete with a choreographed battle scene, to satisfy those who crave swords & sorcery; stoner & doom; battle-babes & beasts; Frazetta & Sabbath.

RESTLESS SPIRIT’S third album, “Afterimage”, embodies the East Coast trio’s aim of never wanting to sound exactly like before. Long Island deep-fried guitars meet pounding rhythms and emotionally raw vocals. Where the predecessor “Blood of the Old Gods” (2021) sometimes ushered the listener into twisted complexity, “Afterimage” delivers short, sharp shocks that hit straight home. Lyrically, “Afterimage” is driven by tragedy and personal loss. Singer and guitarist Paul Aloisio has put his heart and soul into the album. “Afterimage” might well be read as a cautionary tale.

Embarking on their musical journey very early in life, RESTLESS SPIRIT’s core of Aloisio and bassist Marc Morello met the summer before Kindergarten and grew up discovering music side by side. Channelling influences like BLACK SABBATH, TYPE O NEGATIVE and THE SWORD and incorporating aggressive modern metal, unabashed stoner-doom pummelling, energetic changes and stirring, earnest vocals, their band was finally christened RESTLESS SPIRIT in 2019. Their debut full-length “Lord of the New Depression” (2019) fit equally well into the stoner, doom, and sludge moulds, while on “Blood of the Old Gods”, the three-piece developed a more varied, melodic approach with added complexity. On the live front, the Long Island band has undertaken several tours in support of “Blood of the Old Gods” and shared stages with the likes of CROWBAR, THE OBSESSED, and CANNIBAL CORPSE.

With “Afterimage”, RESTLESS SPIRIT deliver a massive punch to the gut that actually feels damn great once the initial pain subsides.

Hailing from the mountains of New York’s Hudson Valley region, Sun Voyager, currently based in New York City, found their sound in a frigid shed during some long winters. You could call it psychedelic, stoner, and find traces of desert, doom, kraut, and everything in between. The Obelisk recently coined it “cosmic grunge.” Recyclable Sounds calls it “traditionalist post-Hawkwind moto-space rock.” Decibel Magazine says, “If you’re a connoisseur of the latest in fuzzed-out heavy music, Sun Voyager are a band that should have a place on your radar.”