This Is War is the third studio album by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, released on December 8, 2009 through Virgin Records.

The album was recorded over a span of two years while the band was in the midst of a legal dispute with Virgin over an alleged breach-of-contract.

The album marked a departure from the band's previous material, implementing a more experimental direction that draws influence from progressive rock, new wave, industrial, and heavy metal music.

This Is War received general acclaim from critics, who praised its instrumentation and experimental direction, and was nominated for the Echo Music Prize.

He said the claims were "ridiculously overblown" and "totally unrealistic", before stating that "under California law, where we live and signed our deal, one cannot be bound to a contract for more than seven years."

[6] The suit was resolved following a defense based on a contract case involving actress Olivia de Havilland decades before.

"[8] Leto produced a documentary Artifact, which depicted the state of the modern music industry through their dispute with their record company.

[12] Leto also revealed in the interview that the album's style would be leaning more towards that of their self-titled debut than that of A Beautiful Lie,[better source needed] with most songs clocking in over five minutes.

[13] West's vocal contribution to the song was ultimately removed because of legal issues surrounding the rights of the record labels of each of the artists.

AllMusic writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine acknowledged the band's progression since their last record; saying that it was a liability "When they were mining a post-grunge or nu metal or emo vein," but now the group has deviated to a sound that is more reminiscent of "a hybrid of the Killers' retro new wave and My Chemical Romance's gothic prog."

He said following the band's transposition "they've wound up with a sound that suits their stance", referring to the record as "an ungainly mix of synth rock, metal, and prog, the distillation of all manner of brooding '80s teenage obsessions.

"[16] Sara Anderson from AOL Radio referred to This Is War's "extremely progressive rock sound with killer choruses"; saying the album clearly takes inspiration from experimental Pink Floyd to melodic M83.

[17] The Times described the record's sound as "a tighter, more textured set of eyeliner indie-rock tunes than the group's previous albums".

Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto described the record as a concept album, proceeding to say "if this isn't, I'm not sure what is".

"[19] Leto also mentioned that he had written lyrics about some themes he felt were missing from their previous work, such as optimism and sexuality only for the song "Stranger in a Strange Land".

The video, which runs for 13 minutes and 10 seconds and was directed by Jared Leto under the pseudonym Bartholomew Cubbins, premiered on MTV on November 29, 2010.

Steve Schnur, Worldwide Executive of Music and Music Marketing at Electronic Arts described working with Thirty Seconds to Mars: "EA has always had a forward-thinking relationship with Thirty Seconds to Mars and we are overwhelmed with excitement about the band's involvement and creative contribution to Dragon Age: Origins.

This exciting song debut exemplifies our continued commitment to working with great bands that move the needle to where music is going.

We've come a long way from having to rely solely on radio to approach and engage music fans, and Dragon Age: Origins is the perfect game to do this with.

[27] Cobra Starship frontman Gabe Saporta revealed to MTV News that he is featured on one of the covers, after sending in a photo and not expecting to be selected.

[27] There is also a number of other notable persons including manager Irving Azoff and label executives Ron Werre, Greg Thompson, Angelica Cob-Baehler, Colin Finklestein and Bob Semanovich; as well as celebrities Bam Margera, Kat Von D, Conan O'Brien and members of the bands Chevelle and Street Drum Corps.