ENSLAVED (feat. Kevin Kicking Woman) - Spirit Helper (OFFICIAL VISUALIZER)

Norwegian progressive trailblazers @enslaved are honoured to reveal 'Spirit Helper', a unique and deeply powerful collaboration with Kevin Kicking Woman, an Elder of the Blackfeet Nation. Listen here: https://enslaved.bfan.link/spirit-helper.yde

Video by Kolibri Media

Wildlife and nature footage from Blackfeet ancestral lands courtesy of Fire in the Mountains. Cinematographer and Drone Operator: Jason Nix | Axe of All Trades

'Spirit Helper' has arisen partly from a relationship with Fire In The Mountains, which takes place each year within the Blackfeet Nation, Montana. Enslaved will be returning to the festival later this month to perform. Ivar Bjørnson from Enslaved and Kevin Kicking Woman explain the concept behind 'Spirit Helper' and the lengthy process behind it, below.

Kevin Kicking Woman (vocals) expressed: "Songs are the Blackfoot way of knowing. Expressing relationship and responsibility, belonging and accountability. The purpose of this song is having the performative expression giving meaning to life. Connecting to the universes through the cosmos, earth beings, water beings and spirit beings. Spirit helper is the physical documentation in this process."

Ivar Bjørnson (Enslaved) explains the full back-story of 'Spirit Helper': 'Spirit Helper' began taking shape long before the song itself existed. Its origins lie in years of conversations, festivals, travel, and shared experiences that gradually connected people, traditions, landscapes, and communities.

For Enslaved, the path toward this collaboration began in Colorado in 2019. Through our extended musical family - including shared connections with Wardruna, our longtime management, and the wider community surrounding Fire in the Mountains - we were introduced to one of the festival organisers; Shane McCarthy and the vision behind the gathering that would eventually lead us toward the Blackfeet Nation in Montana. What initially began as conversations around performances and artistic collaboration slowly evolved into something much deeper: an exchange of perspectives, histories, and spiritual traditions shaped by many people along the way.

Those connections continued to grow over the following years through both Fire in the Mountains and the wider community surrounding By Norse Music - the label and artistic platform founded by members of Enslaved and Wardruna together with our manager Simon Füllemann. Through By Norse, new conversations, meetings, and cultural exchanges emerged, eventually helping create the conditions that made 'Spirit Helper' possible.

For us, the song represents far more than a collaboration between artists from different backgrounds. It reflects what can happen when people meet openly, listen carefully, and allow themselves to be changed by the encounter. The generosity, trust, and wisdom shared with us by Kevin Kicking Woman, Nick Rink, the Blackfeet community, Fire in the Mountains, the Firekeeper Alliance, our partners through By Norse, and everyone who helped shape this journey are things we carry with deep gratitude.

Ultimately, 'Spirit Helper' is a song about connection - between past and present, traditions and people, and the spiritual and human worlds. For Enslaved, it stands as one of the most meaningful musical journeys we have undertaken."

#enslaved #progressivemetal #nuclearblastrecords