Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is the revitalized adventure of Edward Kenway in the Caribbean, complete with plundering ship battles, a dynamic Caribbean environment, and, of course, sea shanties. Saltatio Mortis, a German medieval rock group, and Visions of Atlantis, a symphonic metal band, collaborated with Ubisoft Germany to create "Reckless Sailor (Black Flag Rises)", a new kind of sea shanty. The song, inspired by the classic Drunken Sailor shanty, takes inspiration from Edward’s character, and the music video depicts a vignette in his adventure. You can watch the music video below.
We spoke with Jörg Roth, lead singer of Saltatio Mortis, about creating Reckless Sailor, making the music video, and his passion for Assassin’s Creed.
Drunken Sailor is one of the most recognizable sea shanties in existence. How did you approach revitalizing such an iconic song?
Jörg Roth: We were looking for a song that is iconic, and that fits into the game. My first choice was actually 'Leave her Johnny’, but it was already taken. But then, our guitarist suggested doing Drunken Sailor as an epic version – not as dark, but a big version that is fitting of the game and fitting the style of the adventure you live through with Edward Kenway and the Jackdaw and its crew.
We recorded a full version of Drunken Sailor, but as we were talking about it, we wondered if it was enough. “What shall we do with a drunken sailor early in the morning? Put him in the bed with the captain’s daughter, shave his belly with a rusty razor, put him in a long boat ‘till he’s sober.” These are the original lyrics, and there’s a lot to take from, but we wondered about the crew of the Jackdaw singing that about Edward. It’s a good fit – if Adewale doesn’t watch out he’s drunk all the time – but would a crew be singing that about their captain? No. So we said, let him ride the winds to glory, let him carve his name in story, because that’s what Edward is up to. Let him raise the black flag higher, let him set the seas on fire.
And so “they raise the black flag higher, they set the seas on fire.” Then, we had the idea that the “Hoo ray, up she rises” lyric gets translated in the in-game systems; as the ship rises, it falls again when it comes down from the waves.
This is what you do in the game, and it’s what the crew is up to. They live for the black flag. And as the events of the game play out, they keep true to their code, to the black flag. Our guitarist and I knew the game and still love the game, and in our opinion, that was the best thing we could do to make a perfect fit for the game.
What was it like working with Visions of Atlantis?
JR: We knew them for a long time, but we haven’t collaborated before. They’re really wonderful people; if you ever get a chance to meet them, anything can happen. And their willingness to try anything is really how “Reckless Sailor”, especially the music video, came to happen.
There’s a great story about Clementine, one of their lead singers. She had never done sword fights before. And I learned sword fighting years ago, and I’m a martial arts teacher for Shaolin Kung Fu, which is a different style of fighting than most people who do medieval fights, but looks really good for the video. So, the night before the music video shoot for Reckless Sailor, Clementine, their other lead vocalist Michele, and I met and practiced sword fighting for three hours. Clementine was so on fire that she practiced the whole day, even when we were finished filming, and now she’s started a workshop for sword fighting with the guys from the Pirates Action Theatre. They helped us on the music video with stunts and to make sure we got the swordplay right. It was really great to see.
Speaking of the music video, can you tell us more about making it?
JR: When we thought about the music video, we talked a lot about Assassin’s Creed, what I like about Edward Kenway, and what the iconic game moves are that we have to have in the video. We wanted to tell a story, and take players on a journey inspired by Assassin contracts in Black Flag. We did it a little differently than in the game; a figure in a coat approaches Edward and gives him the contract. And then we decided Elsi, our bagpiper, could be the person I hunt. He can really act – you can see in the video when I look at him and he looks at me and he gets an “okay, I have a bad day now” expression. And then he starts running.
There were a few things in the chase sequence we wanted to do, like having a leap with the swords coming in and out, and jumping onto somebody with the finisher stab, kneeling on the target just like in Black Flag. And we have a bit of social stealth, with movements sped up a bit to be more realistic. And there’s an iconic Assassin’s Creed Black Flag move where if they go to shoot Edward, you can have him grab somebody and pull them in to be a human shield. And so we did it!
Then, in the tavern, I wanted to have Adewale, so you can see him leaning on the bar. It’s also packed with pirates and redcoats, and when Edward comes in a redcoat goes to arrest him. Edward takes him down, and the full bar comes into the fight. We have the classic sword fight on the table, and we have the revealing of a pirate dressed as a man who is actually a woman. She’s an homage to all the women – because it wasn’t just them, there were many women dressed as men on pirate ships – who were feared on the high seas.
To finish the story and close out the contract, we had to get the nice close up of the hidden blade and a nice finisher.
It sounds like quite the passion project!
JR: Everybody who worked on this project was happy to do it; we all went in with the passion that we had because the game is full of passion too. And there are lots of little ways this shows in the video.
My friends in the cosplay community, Nelly AKA @zwillingsnadelcosplay and Anna AKA @marna.crafting, made my Edward Kenway costume. We also worked with the Pirates Action Theatre, who brought trained fighters, stuntmen, and the breaking table that you see us throw our drummer Jan through.
For example, when we did the shooting with rifles, those were real black powder rifles. It’s something totally different than a real gun, and it was so loud! We also had a couple groups who did pirate camps helping out with everything we needed, like clothes and food. And a cool insider tidbit is when I walk into the market in the video, you see someone cooking a meal. That was our lunch!
But these are all the small things that made it a love letter to Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, because we wanted to have the real stuff. And the video got this good because of the people who are in it and helped make it.
What connection do you feel with Assassin’s Creed Black Flag?
JR: I’ve played – and loved – a lot of Assassin’s Creed games, and for somebody who loves history at all, Assassin’s Creed is a must-do. But Edward Kenway was the game-changer for me. In Black Flag, he’s not a pure guy, you know? All the others, they’re like, “okay, something bad happened, but I am on the righteous path, I work for the light.” But Edward, he doesn’t work in the dark to serve the light. He doesn’t care at all. I’ve also read the Assassin’s Creed Black Flag novel, which dives into Edward’s backstory a bit, and when he goes to the Caribbean, he’s young and wants to have adventures and seeks money and fame. But he finds something else. He finds a bigger course.
For me, when we started as musicians, we didn’t care about money, we just followed a dream. And everyone told us that it was a bad idea and to go get regular jobs. But we walked the hard path – we started playing in streets because we needed a place to practice with loud instruments like the bagpipes. We were just looking to make it better, to follow that dream. And that’s what caught me when I first played Assassin’s Creed Black Flag – and Resynced does it again – because we were nothing more. We didn’t raid people, no. We didn’t search for gold, no. But we searched for that dream, that dream of a different life, of a better life, of the rockstar life. But to be honest, it never happened like we dreamed, because we would have never dreamed that the guys playing at the side of the street with bagpipes would one day be headlining the Wacken Festival or doing a collaboration with one of my favorite games.
As the years went on, the concerts got bigger and bigger, and over the years, we as a band started realizing something. It’s not about us on stage, it’s about the people. When we start a concert and look into the crowd, the people a re like mourning, looking tired, looking anxious and everything, because everybody has the same struggle. But then the concert starts and it gains momentum, and everyone gets more relieved. And in the end, you just have smiling faces and blazing eyes. And this is our noble course that we go for each and every night. And that’s why I think we musicians are like Assassins: we work in the dark to serve the light.
You can listen to Reckless Sailor, or any other music from Saltatio Mortis, anywhere you stream music. To live the pirate adventure for yourself, play Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced today on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, or PC via the Ubisoft Store, Steam, and the Epic Games Store. You can also play with a Ubisoft+ subscription.