Girls Dead Monster - Thousand Enemies insert song single

It was more than a little surprising to see Angel Beats! kill off its front-woman Iwasawa just three episodes in, particularly given the prominence of the "house band" Girls Dead Monster in terms of both merchandising and the series itself. Needless to say, the series was quick to employ a replacement in the form of the arguably more "moe-friendly" Yui, the introduction of which ties in nicely to this second single from the show's band, Thousand Enemies.


The single begins of course with its title track, and with singer LiSA's vocals sounding so different to Yui's "normal voice" (provided by Eri Kitamura) that the suspension of disbelief is rather difficult, although it does at least offer some musical consistency to the band as a whole as a result. That said, this opener is a pretty solid track that doesn't catch the ear as much as any of the tracks on Crow Song - It works well enough, but it's rather generic for my taste and isn't anything like as likely to stick in your head to the same extent as aspects of that first single's title track.

Track two on the CD is Rain Song, which actually serves itself a little, but not by much until the track is saved by its refrain somewhat (a recurring motif on pretty much all of Girls Dead Monster tracks so far, incidentally). It certainly isn't a bad track and it's polished enough to sit alongside the band's previous tracks, it's just that it doesn't grab you by the lapels and accelerate your heart-rate as you might hope for.

Finally, we get a slow song for track three (as we did with Crow Song), with Highest Life going towards the power ballad route somewhat before sliding into a mass chorus-cum-cigarette lighter-waving moment. Again, there's nothing to really fault about this track, but to the same degree there's nothing to leave me wanting to praise it from the rooftops or even put it onto repeat play for an hour or so - It's decent but unforgettable, which pretty much sums up this single as a whole. While Crow Song had me hooked from the first listen, Thousand Enemies simply doesn't recapture that passion or excitement, making for a pretty run-of-the-mill effort that I doubt will be listen to as keenly as its predecessor by the majority of fans of the show.