This Is War: review

Yes, it’s two days late but when your website has a nervous breakdown and refuses to load anything, what else can you expect?

After the mincing we gave their rehearsal slash gig at London’s KOKO, one might think we were simply the next critics in line to give the band a solid bashing and it’s safe to say that this line is getting round-the-block sized. Third album ‘This Is War’ hasn’t changed press opinions, they’re still throwing up cute soundbytes about ‘eyeliner indie’ like MCR never happened and relying on Jared Leto’s lofty status as a certain type of girl’s (or boy’s) perfectly sensitive dream date to slam seismically awful reviews upon them.

Which shouldn’t make a dent in Leto’s head of grandiose dreams and desires because his legions of fans would happily set fire to those who deny the prowess of 30 Seconds To Mars. ‘This Is War’ now seems less about battling lawsuits and making this album using the band’s own dosh, and more about harnessing the growing power of the Echelon. By using the fans as a choir for the album and having them happily and deeply emeshed in the band’s universe, the thought of 30STM’s followers, all wearing leather jackets with a pyramid on the back, taking over the world 300 style suddenly doesn’t feel very unrealistic.

But does it work? The forays into glittering, diamond-hard electronic soundscapes and dark corners of the human condition battle against a more traditional 30STM slant, and a compulsion not to break the intense bond created by ‘A Beautiful Lie’ between fan and band. As a result, ‘This Is War’ itself feels divided into two camps – the embracing of fan involvement and the band progessing behind closed doors.

‘Kings & Queens‘ bridges ‘This Is War’ from ‘A Beautiful Lie’; the lull of the verse and the sonic boom of the chorus allowing Jared to employ his trademark widescreen vocal lift. A demonstration that he hasn’t lost any of his skill to write a storming melody that’s both catchy and anthemic, nor his taste for the dramatic. This high octane build structure they use reaches greatness, but it’s not without a stumble or two; ‘Hurricane‘ and ‘Stranger In A Strange Land‘, with their cold alien landscapes of complex electronica, are evocative and diabolically magnetic, the arresting ‘Night of The Hunter’ is an intense, labyrinthine journey, yet the title track, despite its whipping military drums and favouritism among fans, feels clumsy and ultimately unfulfilling.

The band’s relationship with their fans is an admirable and perhaps enviable one, but having The Summit warbling over multiple tracks (several which would elevated from good to remarkable sans the choir) is a test to all but the most devoted listener. The entire intro and chorus to ‘Vox Populi‘ is manned by The Summit. It translates as voice of the people. And the people sound like a hen’s night out on the terraces of Manchester United.  At key moments, it punches through with eloquence; as the background chorus on ‘Search and Destroy‘ it gives the thrill of an attack and ‘Escape’ uses it like the listener is about to be dropped over a cliff edge, but ‘Closer To The Edge‘ is torn from the coolly sleek grip of Summit-free tracks and showered with an unnecessary shouty chorus line, and the odd-man-out acoustic cut ‘100 Suns‘ is subject to raw caterwauling that’s at jarring odds with the rest of the album.

It’s not hard to see Leto as a driven character who vehemently believes in what he and his band deliver, but how seriously he takes himself seems to be the knifepoint upon which cuts public perception of the album as either bombastic, egotistical drivel or a wildly spectacular, grand scale accomplishment. After such a prolonged wait, established fans will find little to fault with ‘This Is War’ and care not for anyone’s counter opinion, but to stand back and listen objectively is to pick a side of 30STM you prefer. It is without doubt the gloomy, formidable weight of songs like ‘Stranger…‘ which pique the senses and intrigue as to where 30STM will travel next but, overall, despite faint shimmers of misguided indulgence, ‘This Is War’ is ultimately an impressive and addictive body of work.