Seventh Era

Seventh Era was born in August 1979 by Andrew and Chris Lambert in their home town of Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. Both brothers having a huge passion for ‘Rock/ Metal’ music wanted to create their own music. We talked with bass player Chris Lambert, to know more about Seventh Era.

Q. - Hello Chris, tell us a bit about the origins of Seventh Era, how and when did it all start? Who were the first members of the band? How did you get in touch with the other members?

Chris - Seventh Era originated in August 1979 by Andrew and Chris Lambert in their home town of Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. Both brothers having a huge passion for ‘Rock/ Metal’ music wanted to create their own music.

Andy and Chris ‘self-taught’ themselves their instruments, Andy played guitar, Chris on bass. The drummer, Gary Hawkes, was found in their local pub and chosen for his hard hitting double bass drumming and a friend was helping look for a vocalist and Miles Wright, a natural front man with excellent range came forward.

After a couple of local gigs, both Chris and Andy realised they needed a fuller sound so then they sought and found a rhythm guitarist, Rob Lloyd, the band was now complete.

Q. - Who would you cite as your major influences at that time?

Chris - Major influences were Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest and White Snake.

Q. - What other bands did you play before Seventh Era?

Chris - Neither Chris or Andy played with any other bands before Seventh Era. Seventh Era was their first band.

Q. - How was the West Midlands metal scene back in the day? Was it a united scene? What were you relations with other local bands? Did you help each other?

Chris - There were very few rock/ metal bands at this time, just a couple in Kidderminster, Arc was another band and we giggled with them and helped each other out with equipment.

We were able to pull good crowds to our gigs locally, you could always count on a good turnout.

Q. - Did you play regularly in the UK back then or was it hard for a heavy metal band to be booked at that time?

Chris - We played regularly all over the midlands. It wasn’t easy to get bookings but easier than today.

I used to buy music magazines which advertised gigs and I phoned up venues to get bookings.

At this time there was a great deal of original music around, far more than today, therefore you could get the gigs. Today in England cover bands have taken over and the general public are not keen to attend gigs when they are not familiar with the band or the tracks they are playing.

Q. - The songs "Hellraiser", "Endless Slaughter" and "Satan's Calling" appear on both demos from 1984, are these different recordings or are the same recordings on different demos?

Chris - Hell Raiser, Endless Slaughter and Satan’s calling are the same tracks on different demos from 1984, just the covers were different.

Q. - After these first demos, did you try to approach a label, to record an LP?

Chris - After these demos were recorded, a friend of Chris’s approached a couple of labels in London, Bronze records who had signed Motorhead. Bronze records liked Seventh Era but we’re looking for a faster sound like Motorhead.

Q. - Do you have some more demo recordings from the 80's era, besides the 1984 demos?

Chris - There are other demos from the 1980’s, one was recorded in 1982 with a different drummer by the name of Mark Daniels which included the original versions of Endless Slaughter and Satan’s Calling. I am still trying to track this particular demo down at present. Another demo was also done in 1986 which is connected to the Seventh Era at Kidderminster Town Hall which is available on YouTube with Andy Lambert playing and singing vocals. This is being searched for at present as well.

Q. - What happened at the end of the band? When did you split exactly and for what reasons? Were you working on new material before you broke up?

Chris - The band continued playing until 1990, the line up just before we finished was Andy Lambert - Lead, Chris Lambert - Bass, David Hill - Drums, The late Mark Freeman - Vocals. Three of these tracks can be found on YouTube under the heading ‘Seventh Era Knighton’. After this line up in 1990, the Lambert brothers formed a band with Gary Hawkes and John Parmenter on vocals called UXB. This band continued playing for around 12 months.

Q. - How did the idea of record "Hard Rock Never Dies" came up?

Chris - Hard Rock Never Dies came from a period when Seventh Era reformed in 2001 with once again Chris and Andy, new front man Russell Hayes and drummer Nick Haynes.

Q. - Can you tell us the current line-up of the band? And the background of the new members?

Chris - The band today, new line up in 2018 is Chris Lambert on bass, Simon Nichols on vocals, Chris Taylor on lead guitar and Elliot Hughes on drums.

Q. - What plans do you have for Seventh Era future? Are you planning new recordings? What can we expect from Seventh Era?

Chris - We are just in the process of re recording tracks from Seventh Era’s back catalogue from 1979-1986. An hoursworth of material at present and hoping to be gigging with this new line up in early 2019. We are currently seeking new contacts for gigs as we are from the NWOBHM era.

Q. - Besides Seventh Era, what other bands do you play nowadays?

Chris - In answer to your question regarding if I play with any other bands, the answer is no, my heart and soul is with Seventh Era and I only want to move my band forward and play as Seventh Era.

Q. - How do you see the heavy metal scene nowadays? Do you keep an eye on what's going on? Are you still a heavy metal fan?

Chris - I see the heavy metal scene as very difficult for the smaller heavy metal bands , really difficult to pull crowds unless you a large well known band. I keep my finger on the pulse of metal/ rock bands world wide. The only area in metal I’m not particularly interested in is the ‘death metal ‘scene, Metallica probably being the heaviest I would listen to.

Q. - And what do you think of this recent revival of the N.W.O.B.H.M., and all these bands reforming?

Chris - The recent revival of the NWOBHM can only be a positive as Seventh Era were and remain a part of this era.

Q. - Anything more you want to say, to end up this interview?

Chris - To finish, if my bands new line up works as well as I hope, I would very much like to play gigs across Europe , I have always felt that Germany for example would be an ideal country for my music. I would very much appreciate contacts, feedback from other countries like this written interview from yourself. I thank you for your interest and I hope we have more to write to each other on the future.

Wishing you a very happy New Year.

Thank you for your time, and wish you all the best for the future!