Recorded in the midst of a bitter contract dispute, This Is War is a show of outsized bravado. “This is not a game”, Jared Leto cautions atop the foreboding synthscape of “Escape", and for the next hour his alt-rock armada unleashes a maelstrom of industrialised post-grunge angst. The relentless intensity suits Leto’s acting chops. Amidst the techno-emo of “Night of the Hunter”, he declares: “I will break your heart/Tear you to pieces and rip you apart”—and yet still sounds sympathetic.