Depart From Me is a bold step for Cage, considering 2005’s Hell’s Winter turned some long-time fans sour after abandoning his drug-addled shock rap for sober and intense introspection. While casting out his demons, Cage veers further left, sonically. With much of the production handled by F. Sean (Hatebreed), Depart From Me is full of guitar-heavy, synthy, dark, and ominous soundscapes. “Nothing Left to Say,” a response to longtime collaborator and friend Camu Tao’s passing, opens with a spoken-word intro before El-P launches into an industrial frenzy. Cage is still sick and twisted—“I Never Knew You,” slow and brooding, finds him stalking and strangling a woman. He does stray a little too far at times (the new-wavey “Katie’s Song” and punky “Kick Rocks”) but, for the most part, Depart From Me is a welcome progression.