It's been three years in the making since the 2012 release of Beyond The First Kiss, but Personal Demons is proving to be the DML Cartel's most ambitious release to date. There is an intensity and sincerity to this collection of songs. The songs are stories in Lede's timeline, evident in tracks like Self-Indulgent, Before You Were Here, and Backslider. Stories lived, learned, and now ready to be shared with the Cartel audience. There is a musical maturity to the new disc as well, with the introduction of Lede's new Cartel, Rob Perez (guitar), Richard Ruiz (guitar), Bobby Tapia (bass) and Jude Cwalenski (drums). From the opening chords of the anthemic Something For All Of Us to the ending fade of rocker, What Happens In Vegas, the songs are a snapshot into the creative genius of the DML Cartel. Musical hybrids of rock, blues, & country. Lede's penchant for catchy hooks is notable in songs like Testament and Revolution Of One. The vocals are strong & dynamic. Lede's lyrics are creative word-play touching on a variety of topics like co-dependent relationships, suicide, and divorce. He can also be whimsical with lyrics like"oozing the blues in my sock-it-to-me-shoes" from Short Drive To Crazy, which focuses on the trials & tribulations of paying ones musical dues. By the diversity of this collection of songs, it is easy to speculate that there are five unique personalities contributing to this collection of songs. The rhythm section provides the energetic undertones that resonate throughout the disc. Even during the slower tempo songs. Cwalenski's approach to drums is a calculated employment of solid rock foundation and syncopated jazz-like fills with expertise precision. Tapia is musically in sync with bass lines that weave in and around the groove offering counter melodies against a dual guitar attack. The guitars range per song with aggression on songs like Self- Indulgent and Backslider, but become quiet and melodic on songs like Be There For Me and Waiting Her Out.Ruiz is the underlying rock foundation evident in the edgy guitar rhythms of Nothing But Dead and Revolution Of One and the mesmerizing melodies in Be There For Me and Before You Were Here. Perez is the dominating force in his own right, with a strong melodic approach to his guitar solos reminiscent of Pink Floyd's, David Gilmour. Personal Demons was recorded at Big Door Studios with long-time friend and engineer, Mike BBQ and mixed in Los Angeles by Steve Valenzuela for Applefeast Productions. The DML Cartel have strong influences of a variety of great bands but still manage to always maintain a unique sound of self.