Sétima Legião

It was one of the bands that marked the national music scene in the 80’s, both for the mix of styles they presented in their songs, as for the quality of some of their lyrics. Sétima Legião marked an era, and for that reason they occupy a prominent place in the history of Portuguese music.

It was in 1982 that Rodrigo Leão (bass and keys), Nuno Cruz (drums) and Pedro Oliveira (vocals and guitar) began rehearsing on Avenida de Roma, running for the big night of Rock shortly after, managing to reach second place. They chose the name of Sétima Legião (the name of the Roman legion that came to Lusitania), and presented themselves mixing respect for national roots with the taste they had for English rock, even presenting some Celtic influences in their music.

Paulo Marinho (bagpipes) and Susana Lopes (cello) joined shortly after, and the band ended up signing a contract with Fundação Atlântica (by Pedro Ayres Magalhães, Miguel Esteves Cardoso and Ricardo Camacho), releasing the single “Glória ” in 1983, a song with lyrics by Miguel Esteves Cardoso, which despite having received praise from critics, went a little unnoticed by the general public.

In 1984, the first album was released, “A um Deus Unknown”, which became one of the most important in the history of national music. The band undergoes the first changes, with the departure of Susana and the entry of Ricardo Camacho, who is in charge of keyboards. This is because Rodrigo Leão was starting the Madredeus project at the time, and he did not always have the necessary time for the group.

It is in 1987 that the band begins to have greater success, largely because of the single Sete Mares, one of the main themes of the album Mar D’Outubro, which reached the silver disc award. The group then began to appear more on radio and television, also touring the country with their concerts.

A new album, “De um tempo absent”, comes out in 1989, with collaborations by artists such as Flak, Luís Represas, Pedro Ayres Magalhães or Teresa Salgueiro, the album becomes a sales success, with the singles “Porto Santo” and “Por quem não forgotten” to be played regularly on the radio and to become landmarks of national music.

Sétima Legião began to be a common name for Portuguese music fans, and to appear in major events such as Portugal ao Vivo or Filhos da Madrugada. in addition to having concerts that ended up becoming mythical, such as a performance they had at the Carlos Lopes Pavilion.

The band lost some steam in the 90s, with the 1992 and 1992 albums (“o Fogo” and “o auto da fé”) not having great success or much acceptance by the public. In the middle of the decade, Rodrigo Leão ends up leaving, being replaced by Lúcio Vieira, and decides to take a risk on the next album, “Sexto senso”, entering a more electronic style that ended up alienating the group’s fans, despite having received good reviews.

In the 21st century they end up editing only best of collections, coming together in 2012 for a series of concerts, showing that they are still an important name in music in Portugal.