On Monday, we unveiled our bracket for the 2011 Musical March Madness tournament, a list of the 64 bands that matter most in rock, going head-to-head for championship glory (and a really nice trophy).

Vote for your favorite bands now over on the Newsroom blog.

That reveal followed a week of trash talk from several tournament hopefuls, including Panic! at the Disco, Linkin Park and last-year's champs, Coheed and Cambria ... all of whom believed they have what it takes to take home the title.

But through all that chatter, one band remained silent: 30 Seconds to Mars, who last year rode the fanatic support of their Echelon fans all the way to the Sweet 16, where were knocked off in excruciating overtime fashion by My Chemical Romance. But with the 2011 tournament finally upon us, 30 STM have finally spoken up.

The way they see it, all the other bands have been writing checks their mouths can't cash, and in the 2011 MMM, 30 Seconds to Mars are out to shut them up. With the help of their Echelon, of course.

"So I've heard some of the other bands talking about 'teamwork' and 'bribery' and kind of making jokes and not taking this very seriously, but we over in our camp take it very seriously," 30 STM guitarist Tomo Milicevic said. "The reason we're going to win is because of one word: Echelon."

So, can the Echelon carry 30 Seconds to Mars all the way to the title? Or will they come up short against the fervent fanbases of Coheed, Panic!, Tokio Hotel and MCR? Well, that's really up to you, isn't it? Voting is now open in all first-round MMM matchups over at the Newsroom blog, and closes Sunday at midnight. May the best band win.

MTV's Musical March Madness tournament is back! Voting on all first-round matchups begins this afternoon on the Newsroom blog and continues until Sunday. All winners are determined by your votes, so if your favorite act made the cut, it'll be up to you to guide them to glory. You can rally the troops on Twitter using the hashtag #MMM — but get ready, it's gonna be a war.