CASTLE RAT will play Mystic Festival 2027 in Gdańsk, Poland, from 10 to 12 June. The Brooklyn doom metal band was announced for the festival on 8 November, alongside Killswitch Engage, Sinister and Slift. The event will take place on the grounds of Polsat Plus Arena, with the newly announced acts joining Marilyn Manson, Faith No More, Helloween, Children of Bodom, Watain, Converge, Cryptopsy, Lorna Shore, John Garcia, Mondo Generator, British Lion, Green Lung, Bodysnatcher, Dogma and Celestial Sanctuary.
Three days at Polsat Plus Arena
Mystic Festival will run for three days in Gdańsk. A standard festival pass costs 879 zł, while the VIP option is priced at 1399 zł. The announcement did not provide individual stage assignments or set times for the 2027 edition.
CASTLE RAT are currently promoting their second studio album, “The Bestiary”, which was released on 19 September 2025 through King Volume Records in the United States and Blues Funeral Recordings in Europe. The 13-track album was recorded at Applehead Studios and Circular Ruin Studio under the direction of Randall Dunn, with Jonathan Nunez mixing and mastering it at Sound Artillery Studio.
Riley Pinkerton leads the Rat Queen
Riley Pinkerton sings and plays rhythm guitar in CASTLE RAT, performing under the name The Rat Queen. She has also worked on her solo project and with Pinkerton / Black, Riley McCurry & the Fiddle Yard Folks and The DeCamp Sisters. The band formed in Brooklyn in 2019 and released its debut album, “Into the Realm”, on 12 April 2024.
The festival announcement lists The Count on guitar, The Plague Doctor on bass and The Druid on drums alongside The Rat Queen. Earlier background reports identified The Druid as a later replacement for Sarge behind the kit.
The name should not be confused with CASTLE, the San Francisco doom metal band covered in our earlier report on the “Evil Nun” video. That story concerned CASTLE’s album “Carrie Chains”, released through Hammerheart Records, and its video featuring Liz Blackwell on vocals and bass. CASTLE RAT are the Brooklyn band appearing at Mystic Festival and are promoting “The Bestiary”.
