Death By Love – 444 (Digital/CD Album – Distortion Productions)
Death By Love is a brand-new project led by American producer and multi-instrumentalist Peter Guellard, joined by Polish singer and songwriter Inga Habiba. The duo emerged after Guellard was unexpectedly left without a singer in a previous project.
Following several singles, they now present their debut album, “444”, which showcases a remarkably diverse range of influences. From hard Industrial-Rock to Trip-Hop, and a significant portion of Ethereal tracks, it sometimes feels as if multiple bands are hiding within this record. What appeals to me most—and clearly constitutes the album’s strongest passages—is the Ethereal side, highlighted by Inga Habiba’s magical, enchanting voice. At times, her singing sounds almost like a lamentation, perfectly matching the music’s atmosphere. There’s a distinct, Eastern flavor in her delivery -but still in the music, that isn’t immediately comparable to Dead Can Dance, though the parallel becomes understandable in certain moments. The music, particularly on these tracks, is subtle, refined, and reveals the true power and potential of the project.
While “444” may contain a few too many influences, I highly recommend exploring and further developing the Ethereal side, which feels like the heart and strongest identity of Death By Love. (Rating:7).
Side-Line covered the release of the debut album “444” on Distortion Productions in February 2026.
Listen to “Ziro”:
About Death By Love
Death By Love is a Polish-U.S. dark electronic project that combines gothic, industrial and dark electro structures with trip-hop pacing and prominent Middle Eastern melodic inflections. The core members are Polish singer-songwriter Inga Habiba and Polish-born, U.S.-based producer, multi-instrumentalist and remix artist Peter Guellard.
Habiba began performing in her teens with the new wave band Nizam and went on to front projects including Monev, Ahimsa and the Warsaw-based gothic rock group Lorien, alongside work with the folk-ethnic ensemble Habiarjan and electronic act NUN Electro, as well as her solo project CallMe.
Guellard’s path runs through the Polish goth band Blitzkrieg and later work in the U.S. dark-electronic underground, including involvement with projects such as MACE, The Electric Hellfire Club, Venus in Furs and Dichro. After Dichro dissolved, a remix commission for NUN Electro’s “Hide” led to deeper collaboration with Habiba on her CallMe material, which developed into the Death By Love project.
The duo signed with Distortion Productions in January 2025. Their debut single “Strong Inside” followed at the end of that month, and the Maanam cover “Krakowski Spleen” appeared in March 2025, before the pair worked towards “444” as their first album-length release.
For live performances, Death By Love expand to a full band setup with guitarist Adrian Adioetomo and drummer Joe Palermo, next to guitarists Pam Simmons and Tomasz “Mechu” Wojciechowski. Released in 2026 on Distortion Productions in CD and digital formats, “444” is the duo’s debut album.
I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.
Since you’re here …
… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading Side-Line Magazine than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can - and we refuse to add annoying advertising. So you can see why we need to ask for your help.
Side-Line’s independent journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we want to push the artists we like and who are equally fighting to survive.
If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps fund it, our future would be much more secure. For as little as 5 US$, you can support Side-Line Magazine – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.
The donations are safely powered by Paypal.
