Seventh Son hail from a couple of junctions down the M1 from me in Barnsley making them good old Yorkshire folk.
All the way back in 1980, brothers Kev and Bri O’Shaughnessy formed the band and set off to make their mark on the emerging New Wave of British Heavy Metal scene just like another band from Barnsley were doing.
Can you guess the name of that other Barnsley band – of course you know what it is……
Back to Seventh Son….the usual hard work around the local area built a following with a debut single appearing in 1982.
This anthology of Seventh Son’s various singles and demos between 1982 and 1990 has been released by the always excellent Obscure NWOBHM Releases label and the demo from 1983 has not been released previously.
I’ve got my hands on a copy of the CD via Bri O’Shaughnessy form the Seventh Son web site shop and it’s all good stuff from a band which may not have hit the big time like that “other” Barnsley bad did, however their enthusiasm not diminished and they remain active today. Can’t keep we Yorkshire folk down you see – we’re hardy souls…
Right – on to the music.
The debut single from 1982 starts it off. Man in the Street and Immortal Hours. A Straight ahead thumping NWOBHM style effort which is quite catchy to boot.
Next up is that previously unreleased demo from 1983.
The half dozen songs (including Man in the Street) show that Seventh Son were developing their own approach and stretching out. The Rising has a fast cutting riff and the song fairly romps along. As does Dark the Were with another tasty riff and a thumping bass line.
Here’s Dark They Were:
Out in the Cold, Killing Yourself to Live and Alive by Night are certainly no back numbers. All solid and enjoyable rockers with the NWOBHM flavour.
Another single appeared in 1984 – the superb slightly tongue in cheek Metal to the Moon which is hugely catchy and the B-side of Sound and Fury is full of both this things.
Skip forward to 1987 and we have the Northern Boots single. Now, this one’s rather excellent as a sport of half-cover of the old The Boots Are Made for Walkin’ song (c’mon, you know that song surely?) merged with a massively bluesy funked up insertion of northern humour and some scorching guitar work.
Next up is the four track EP from 1988 comprising of What More do you Want, Sister Strange, Bitter Ashes and Give me Everything Tonight. An interesting quartet of songs seeing Seventh Son move towards a sort of aggressive fast “power pop” style with catchy elements and tasty guitar.
These grew on me although (just my opinion…) the acoustically based Bitter Ashes comes over as a bit of an outlier.
To complete the anthology we have the Factory Girls single from 1990. This is a fun one too with the big chorus. The B-side of Last Band in Town is a big one and I’d imagine would make a fine closer to a live set.
This anthology of their earlier stuff is most worthy of it’s place in NWOBHM history for a band who never gives up.
As I mentioned earlier, Seventh Son remain active over the years up to an including today and have released new stuff along the way.
The anthology and their other recordings available from the band’s web site:
https://www.seventh-son.co.uk