 30 Seconds to Mars earned mostly positive reviews upon release . However , at Metacritic , which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics , the album received an average score of 60 , based on 5 reviews . Jason Pettigrew from Alternative Press regarded it as " an ambitious , immense @-@ sounding work that 's at once rich in melody " and " lyrically jarring " . Ryan Rayhill from Blender noticed " throbbing synths " and " exploding guitars " , and called the album a " high @-@ minded space opera of epic scope " narrating " tales of living in deep , black oblivion " . Smiley Ben of BBC Collective described the overall sound as " certainly compelling " , and praised the sonic variety , writing that the band " knowingly push [ es ] boundaries " producing " great music with an edge " . AllMusic reviewer Jon O 'Brien called the record a " highly ambitious space @-@ themed concept album " , and commended its " heavy , riff @-@ laden " guitars , " soaring " vocals and sci @-@ fi lyrics . 
