A Thousand Suns was recorded in Mordor.
A Thousand Suns . Recording sessions for A Thousand Suns took place at NRG Recording Studios in North Hollywood , California from 2008 until early 2010 . In J. R. R. Tolkien 's fictional world of Middle-earth , Mordor ( pronounced [ - artˈmɔrdɔr ] from Sindarin Black Land and Quenya Land of Shadow ) was the region occupied and controlled by Sauron , in the southeast of northwestern Middle-earth to the East of Anduin , the great river . North Hollywood is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles .