Ken Carson’s third studio album, “A Great Chaos” sees him sticking to his guns and continuing the trend of releasing rage rap with punk aesthetics, vampire imagery and Rick Owens. Carson has been on an upward trajec- tory as of late, with label co-signs from Destroy Lonely and Playboi Carti, as well as collaborators Yeat and Lil Tecca. With the music industry looking at him and the “Opium” label as an unstoppable force in hip-hop, Car- son strives to make his mark by upping the ante with “A Great Chaos”.

In the past, a gripe I have had with Carson’s music is its lack of distinction in the pool of the popularized rage rap pioneered by artists like Lil Uzi Vert, Trippie Redd, and, leader of the “Opium” label, Playboi Car- ti. With the release of “Whole Lotta Red’’, artists like Lancey Foux, Cochise, Yeat and Homixide Gang feel like off-shoots of this style. With Carson’s last project, “X,” being full of repetitive rage beats and vocals that ranged from uninteresting to unlistenable, he seems to be one of the worst perpetrators of copy and pasting the rage rap formula.

“A Great Chaos,” however, sees an improvement on all fronts. For one, the production isn’t afraid to get experimental, with the off-kilter, metallic synth leads on “Me N My Cup,” to the deep-fried bass on “Lose It.” To complement this, Carson’s vocals also see a refinement from earlier works; given much of his work on “X” sounds thoughtless, however, it’s not a high bar to cross. While songs like “Jennifer’s Body” and the sticky refrain on “Fighting My Demons” are high points, Carson still lacks significance in the rage rap scene.

Even with my initial reservations of Carson’s catalog, however, “A Great Chaos” made its point across, with an improved skill set and a track list, nowhere nearly as bloated as “X.”