Progressive black/viking metal outfit Enslaved are showing off their cred as salty dogs, as they released a pair of sea shanties earlier today. Recorded in collaboration with Bergen, Norway’s Storm Weather Shanty Choir, “Fire Marengo” and “Anna Lovinda” share a deeply Norwegian connection.
According to the band, “Fire Marengo” is a standard, traditional shanty while “Anna Lovinda” is different. That song was written by Norwegian sailor and cultural figure Erik Bye. The incorporation of the aforementioned choir is particularly special, because they’re the same choir that sails on the Statsraad Lehmkuhl, a great Bergen tall ship that still sails the world’s oceans.
Considering the fact that this sort of thing might not be the most common avenue for a band like Enslaved, the band explained why they chose to seek out this collaboration and produce these shanties.
“Enslaved was formed on the western edge of Norway, where mountains fall into the sea and history is carried by wind and tide. Bergen is not simply a coastal city; it is a threshold — between land and ocean, between myth and lived experience. The sea is not scenery here. It is memory, labour, departure and return.
“Among the most powerful living symbols of this heritage is Statsraad Lehmkuhl, the great Bergen tall ship that still sails the world’s oceans. Around this vessel lives and breathes the shanty tradition — songs born of rhythm, rope, salt, and collective effort. From this environment emerged Storm Weather Shanty Choir.
“Our connection to the ship began in 2014, when the Tall Ships Races concluded in Bergen. We were invited to compose and perform a commissioned piece on the deck of Statsraad Lehmkuhl. Metal echoed across the harbour that evening — a meeting of ancient wind-powered technology and modern amplified ritual. It felt less like contrast and more like continuity.”
Enslaved said they grew close with the choir, especially with the director of the ship’s foundation Haakon Vatle. Eventually, Enslaved said they were asked to play with the choir and today’s release stemmed from that.
“In November 2025, during the choir’s 20th anniversary concert in Bergen, we joined forces on the traditional “Fire Marengo” and the Norwegian shanty “Anna Lovinda,” written by the late sailor and cultural figure Erik Bye. The collaboration felt less like fusion and more like recognition — two expressions of the same coastal inheritance meeting at the centre.
“After the performance, it was clear that this convergence should not remain ephemeral. We met again in early 2026 to record the material — not as novelty, but as continuation
“Because at the centre — at mið — we find not isolation, but shared origin. Wind, rhythm, voice. The same pulse that once moved sails now moves amplifiers. The same call-and-response that coordinated labour now shapes modern ritual.
“The sea remembers. And so do we.”
You can check out both tracks below.
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