A Great Chaos

Released on 13 October 2023, A Great Chaos feels exactly as its title promises. Ken Carson’s third studio album is loud, unruly and unapologetically maximalist, a record that leans fully into the excess of rage music while sharpening its edges just enough to feel intentional.

Following the mixed reception of X, Carson approaches this project with a clear sense of purpose. Not to correct, but to amplify. Where his earlier work occasionally blurred into its influences, A Great Chaos pushes forward with a more defined identity. It is not subtle, nor does it try to be. Instead, it thrives on scale, stacking glitchy, digitised instrumentation into dense walls of sound that feel closer to impact than arrangement.

The production, handled by a wide circle including F1lthy, Lil 88, Star Boy, Outtatown and TM88, is the album’s backbone. Tracks arrive as bursts of energy rather than traditional structures, driven by booming 808s, abrasive synths and deliberately blown-out mixes. It is excessive by design, and that excess becomes the point. The sound is less about clarity and more about immersion.

Carson’s delivery meets that intensity head-on. His voice cuts through the noise with a blunt, almost feral directness, shifting between ferocious bursts and more controlled, repetitive patterns. On tracks like ‘Fighting My Demons’, that approach pays off. The song pivots from chaotic energy into something more confessional, even as it maintains its relentless pace. It is one of several moments where the album briefly opens up, revealing flashes of vulnerability beneath its hedonistic surface.

Elsewhere, A Great Chaos leans fully into its darker aesthetic. Horror references and an undercurrent of unease run through the project, from the glitch-heavy ‘Jennifer’s Body’ to the suffocating distortion of ‘Lose It’. The latter, in particular, captures the album at its most intense, its overwhelming sound mirroring the anxiety embedded in the lyrics.

Collaboration plays a key role in shaping the album’s flow. Destroy Lonely appears across multiple tracks, including ‘Singapore’, ‘Paranoid’ and ‘Like This’, bringing a cold, complementary presence that reinforces the record’s tone. Lil Uzi Vert’s appearance on ‘Like This’ adds a moment of contrast, introducing a hook that cuts through the density with unexpected clarity.

What stands out across the album is its pacing. Despite its weight, A Great Chaos moves with intent. Tracks rarely linger, instead arriving, hitting hard, and making space for the next wave. That sense of momentum gives the record a cohesion that its predecessor lacked.

The deluxe edition, released on 5 July 2024 with seven additional tracks, extends rather than reshapes the album’s identity. Songs like ‘Overseas’ continue the same blueprint, reflecting on Carson’s rise and life on tour without breaking from the core sound.

Critically and commercially, the album marked a turning point. Debuting at number 11 on the US Billboard 200 and later achieving Platinum certification, it established Carson as a leading figure within rage music. More importantly, it reframed him as something beyond a derivative voice, positioning him at the centre of a sound still evolving.

A Great Chaos is not interested in refinement. It is interested in impact. Its strength lies in its commitment to that idea, pushing its sound to extremes while holding onto just enough structure to keep it grounded. In doing so, it captures a moment where excess becomes identity, and noise becomes language.