Annimax’s Artist Page is HERE
As heartbreakingly sad as FrΓ©dΓ©ric Chopinβs legendary βFuneral Marchβ is, it somehow feels even heavier, darker, and sadder when reimagined by AnnimaX on a lone bass guitar in his original composition, β~Day I Pass Away.β Behind the moniker is multi-instrumentalist Joel Wiseheart, a seasoned musician whose background with outfits like Nightshade has given him a ferocious command of heavy composition. Yet here, he strips all the noise away.
Musically, β~Day I Pass Awayβ (from the 2023 album Asphalt Assault) is slow, soft, and vulnerably intimate. AnnimaXβs intricate finger pulls on the strings sound almost like the steady, relentless ticking of a clock, counting down our remaining moments. It is devastatingly somber, yet beautifully so.
Listening to it, you can easily picture the artist, head bowed over his lifeβs work, connecting deeply with the same existential gravity that Chopin himself must have felt before his death in 1849. It captures the sheer weight of life and the tragic passage of time, summarizing the profound, interconnected grief found in the prose of Michael Cunninghamβs The Hours into a single, cohesive instrumental piece.
AnnimaX exhibits an incredible command of the bass guitar throughout the performance. He utilizes the full architecture of the instrument, running up and down the strings while seamlessly blending delicate artificial harmonics into the dark melody. Around the 2:30 mark, the track opens up for a series of deeply heartfelt ad-libs that feel like genuine emotional cries.
Ultimately, the song is purposefully simple and intentionally slow. In fact, it almost feels like an insult to crowd a solemnity this quiet and profound with too many words. Instead, listen to it quietly and let your mind fill the space with something so much deeper.
This review was submitted by fellow NAS artist: Jake Sommer
Their artist page can be found HERE
Leave a Reply