Chaos claims many forms in music. From political tyranny, teenage depression to red-skied Armageddon, our playlist of songs about chaos crosses the genres and covers it all.
Songs About Chaos
1. Cradle of Filth – Crawling King Chaos
Cradle of Filth’s 2021 single, Crawling King Chaos, embodies the devouring aura of ‘chaos’ entirely, threading erratic distortions with lush Gothic symphonics and soul-crushing speed.
This extreme metal track adopts an apocalyptic theme, welcoming the Egyptian God Apophis as the King of Chaos in the wake of Armageddon; “The whole world is his church now, a seismic paradigm shift to chaos.”
COF’s trademark quirk of immersive, antiquated poetry remains as prevalent as ever, illustrating a brutal reimagination of mythological and occultist themes;
“Sing his name in rapture, wormwood bitter, spat in tongues, of ancient Pandemonia for the ghosts all shall become, returning to the churning of primordial seas, the Order Of Disorder restored through tribulation, through this bred annihilation.”
2. Public Enemy – Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos
Public Enemy’s 1988 hip-hop track, Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos, details the life of a draft-evader rotting in a US prison cell, scheming escape and cold-blooded murder as a means of surmounting the system.
Public Enemy’s title is crafted as a sleek wordplay on racism, violence and prison degradation; ‘Black Steel’ becoming a metaphor for an African American stealing an officer’s gun, seeking revenge against the incessant cruelty and inequality to his race by law enforcement.
Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos showcases BLM ideals in their needed light, drawing fearless attention to often ignored areas, whilst capturing the pure chaos of life devoid of normality under the orders of a white man;
“4 of us packed in a cell like slaves, oh well, the same motherf***** got us living in his hell, you have to realise its a form of slavery, organised under a swarm of devils … A cell is hell, I’m a rebel, so I rebel between bars, got me thinking like an animal … ‘Cause time and time again, time they got me serving, to those and to them, I’m not a citizen.”
3. Tate McRae – Chaotic
Tate McRae’s pop track, Chaotic, grapples with the thought of growing up, change and the chaos entailed before a life lesson is brought to light.
McRae’s sweet sonic aesthetic is met with an underlying theme of heartbreak, her lyrics detailing the swerves in a young person’s sanity after losing the person they loved;
“I have this paralysing fear that I’ll maybe go nowhere, but God forbid me ever admitting I could be scared … Don’t wanna say it but I really think that I miss him, might seem stupid but I still look through all our texts.”
McRae draws attention to chaos spawned in the wake of a life changing event, her break-up track translating to nearly any teen issue, from fights with friends to bullying and problems in the family home;
“I’m trying my best here to be brutally honest, nobody said changing would be this exhausting, a foot on the brake ‘cause it’s been making me carsick, how could you blame me? Growing up is chaotic.”
4. Immortal – Northern Chaos Gods
Immortal’s 2018 black metal track, Northern Chaos Gods, depicts an apocalyptic onslaught upon the ancient Norse landscape.
Scattering Satanic imagery through their evoked Viking warzone, Immortal call forth the imbalance of fire and ice, mirroring the chaos of nature held closely to black metal;
“Chaos has called its sons, blackened from beyond, hordes upon the ice, where warriors ride through the final winterstorm, from the mountainous battleside come the echoes of battlecry, come the wrath of the gods, fires and battles and blood.”
Whilst Immortal’s modern evolution of sound pales in comparison to the raw, seething chaos of their initial releases, the band retain the bleak energy of ruin and obliteration inherent to their morbid genre, anchoring their message in hopeless surrender to a new age of darkness.
5. Stereophonics – Chaos From The Top Down
Stereophonics’ indie rock single, Chaos From The Top Down, details a riot spurred by systematic failure and governmental chaos.
Although Stereophonics’ title harbours a clear political theme, their message of disruption extends from widespread anarchy to the intricacies of personal bedlam; “Gonna rob another home, and steal another phone, and lose my soul now … Get outta my brain to numb the pain, what’s left to say now?”
This Stereophonics track resounds with bountiful free-spirited optimism; a distracting contrast from their hopelessly depressive lyrical content, and a subtle metaphor for the impeding Brave New World-style utopia bestowing bittersweet escapism to the hypnotised masses, blinded by the positive aspects of the technology which ultimately decimates their sanity.
6. Trivium – Chaos Reigns
Interspersing the inherent chaos and claustrophobia of death metal with searing melodic flairs, Trivium’s 2011 release, Chaos Reigns, conjures the cruel ambience of descending to a godless state of post-apocalyptic torture.
Taken literally, this track chronicles the waning of hope during the rapture, the narrator incapacitated by the terror onslaught. But beneath the indistinguishability of their lyrics, Trivium subtly craft a reflection of mental atrophy under the strain of inescapable mental illness;
“I break and bleed, I tear, then feed the wretchedness inside of me, chaos reigns … It bites and holds with fangs, so old, that loathsomeness, so bitter cold, chaos reigns.”
7. Hollywood Undead – Chaos
Hollywood Undead’s 2022 single, Chaos, summons a scene of anarchy engendered by disillusionment at the broken system.
Clad with illustrations of war, sacrifice and slavery, Hollywood Undead thread their lyrics with profuse amounts of pessimism, adding an everdark undertone to their horror movie soundscape; “No one can save you, the chaos awaits you … The blind lead the blind in the chaos.”
Hollywood Undead line their rap metal track with two discreet themes, concerning the chaos of political tyranny and existential chaos which uproots lives in the aftermath of violent revolution;
“I am the alpha, the omega, meet your maker, you’re all just empty souls and I’m you’re f****** saviour, no one can save you, the chaos awaits you … I can’t see you tomorrow ’cause I might die today, I sing this sorrow with a smile on my face.”