Glowhaze – Vyšehrad
From Prague, Czechia
Released November 15, 2025
Rock / Shoegaze
A monumental, stirring shoegaze record shaped by the shadows of Prague
With Vyšehrad, Prague-based trio Glowhaze deliver an album that feels carved out of stone and fog — a dense, atmospheric fusion of rock power and shoegaze immersion. Named after one of the city’s most historic and myth-soaked locations, Vyšehrad channels the weight of ancient walls, cold river winds, and urban melancholy into a sound that is both forceful and dream-disoriented.
Glowhaze — Danil (drums), Igelgrim (guitar, vocals), and Iris (bass) — have created a record that pulses with raw energy while bathing everything in layers of reverb and distortion. The result is a uniquely Czech take on shoegaze: gritty, moody, and touched by a sense of place that feels unmistakably tied to Central Europe’s darker romanticism.
Sound & atmosphere — cold light, heavy echo, emotional gravity
Vyšehrad is built on thick guitar slabs, underground-bass resonance, and drums that crash like winter storm fronts. Every track feels like it’s pushing forward through smoke — a mix of clarity and haze, weight and drift, melody and force.
The sonic signature includes:
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Guitars drenched in reverb, delay, and overdrive, shifting between soaring leads and crushing low-end chords
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Vocals from Igelgrim that sit like a shadow in the mix — emotional, restrained, and slightly ghostly
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Bass from Iris that acts as a second melodic force, adding texture and emotional tension
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Danil’s powerful drumming, alternating between slow-motion impact and sudden, urgent acceleration
Glowhaze lean into weight rather than overwhelming volume: their shoegaze feels tectonic, grounded in the physicality of rock while keeping the dreamlike, blurred edges of classic gaze.
There’s a cinematic quality, too — you can almost see grey skies, wet cobblestones, and the ancient fortress of Vyšehrad looming above the Vltava.
Themes — myth, memory, and emotional ruins
While the band keeps their lyrical content minimalistic and poetic, Vyšehrad clearly explores themes tied to:
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loss and renewal
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emotional decay
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longing for connection in a vast and indifferent world
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mythologized pasts
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the burden of memory
The album feels like walking through old castle grounds at dusk — everything quiet, everything echoing with unresolved stories. The blend of rock urgency and shoegaze dreaminess mirrors that duality: the present pushing forward, the past pulling inward.
There’s a sense of stoicism in the songwriting, a kind of emotional endurance that fits the city’s cultural temperament — expressing deep feeling without dramatics, letting the music do the speaking.
Why it stands out
Glowhaze separate themselves from modern shoegaze trends by rejecting polish and nostalgia in favor of raw physicality and Czech atmosphere. Vyšehrad is not a rehash of 90s shoegaze; it’s a darker, more grounded interpretation that reflects the band’s geography and sensibilities.
What makes the album compelling:
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its stark emotional honesty
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its fusion of rock power with shoegaze texture
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its sense of place — unmistakably Prague
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its commitment to heaviness without sacrificing dreamlike haze
Glowhaze strike a rare balance: their music is massive yet intimate, melancholic yet fiercely alive.
Final thoughts
Vyšehrad is Glowhaze at their most confident and atmospheric — a towering shoegaze-rock record that feels born from stone, nightfall, and raw emotion. It doesn’t just sound like Prague; it feels like it. Heavy, beautiful, and echoing with ghosts.
A commanding fusion of rock grit and shoegaze haze — Glowhaze’s “Vyšehrad” is a haunting triumph of mood, texture, and emotional weight.
© Thusblog
