''Ritual of Battle'' is the second studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by underground hip hop collective

Army of the Pharaohs AOTP logo ''(as seen on In Death Reborn)'' Army of the Pharaohs (most commonly abbreviated as AOTP or A.O.T.P.) is an American underground hip hop collective originating from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed by Jedi Mind Tricks founder ...

. Released on September 25, 2007 under

Babygrande Records Babygrande Records is an American independent record label based in New York City, founded by Chuck Wilson. Babygrande is distributed by The Orchard and represented by the Creative Artists Agency in Hollywood. History Babygrande Records was ...

, the album features group members

Vinnie Paz Vincenzo Luvineri (born October 5, 1977), better known as Vinnie Paz (formerly known as Ikon the Verbal Hologram), is a Sicilian Americans, Sicilian American rapper and producer behind the Philadelphia underground hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks ...

Jus Allah James Bostick (born June 30, 1978), better known by his stage name Jus Allah, is an American rapper from Camden, New Jersey. He is best known for being a former member of Philadelphia-based hip hop groups Jedi Mind Tricks (JMT) and Army of t ...

OuterSpace OuterSpace is an underground hip hop duo from North Philadelphia. Originally a trio consisting of three Puerto Rican friends that then took the artist names Planetary, Jedeye and Crypt the Warchild. The founding member Mario Collazo (Planetar ...

Chief Kamachi The JuJu Mob (originally credited as ''Chief Kamachi & The JuJu Mob'') is a four-member underground hip hop group originating from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was founded in 2004.Matt Jost, Chief Kamachi & the JuJu Mob :: Black Candles :: ...

Reef the Lost Cauze Sharif Talib Lacey, better known by his stage name Reef the Lost Cauze, is an underground hip hop artist based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Cauze became well known on the underground circuit towards the late 1990s and more so in the early 2000 ...

Esoteric Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas a ...

Celph Titled Victor Mercer (born November 16, 1980), better known by his stage name Celph Titled, is an American rapper and record producer who is a member of the hip hop supergroup Army of the Pharaohs, as well as the Demigodz along with Connecticut rapper ...

King Syze David Albaladejo (better known by his stage name King Syze) is an underground rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania of Puerto Rican descent. He is a member of the underground hip hop supergroup Army of the Pharaohs (AOTP), having featured on ...

Des Devious AOTP logo ''(as seen on In Death Reborn)'' Army of the Pharaohs (most commonly abbreviated as AOTP or A.O.T.P.) is an American underground hip hop collective originating from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed by Jedi Mind Tricks founder ...

Doap Nixon Kenneth Greene (born August 12, 1984), better known by his stage name Doap Nixon, is an American hip hop artist and rapper who is a former member of supergroup Army of the Pharaohs. He has collaborated with a variety of underground hip hop artist ...

, Demoz, and

King Magnetic AOTP logo ''(as seen on In Death Reborn)'' Army of the Pharaohs (most commonly abbreviated as AOTP or A.O.T.P.) is an American underground hip hop collective originating from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed by Jedi Mind Tricks founder ...

. Although he was prominently featured on the group's debut album '' The Torture Papers'',

Apathy Apathy is a lack of feeling, emotion, interest, or concern about something. It is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation, or passion. An apathetic individual has an absence of intere ...

does not appear on ''Ritual of Battle''. While still a member of the group, he explains on a MySpace blog that he was recording with

Styles of Beyond Styles of Beyond was an American underground hip hop group from the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The group consists of MCs Ryan Patrick Maginn (Ryu) and Takbir Bashir (Tak), Colton Raisin Fisher ( DJ Cheapshot), and produce ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

during the Army's album recording sessions. The rapper recorded for one song, titled "A.O.T.P.", produced by

Snowgoons History Snowgoons is a German underground hip hop production team composed of DJ Illegal (Manuu Rückert) and Det Gunner (D. Keller). In 2011, producers Sicknature (Jeppe Andersen) from Denmark and J.S. Kuster (Johann Sebastian Kuster) from Ger ...

, but it was not included on the album. This song was included on the Apathy compilation ''Hell's Lost & Found: It's The Bootleg, Muthafu@kas! Volume 2''. The album's first single is "Bloody Tears", featuring Planetary, Doap Nixon, Demoz and Vinnie Paz and based on the ''

Castlevania ''Castlevania'' (), known in Japan as is a gothic horror action-adventure video game series and media franchise about Dracula (Castlevania), Dracula, created and developed by Konami. It has been released on various platforms, from early system ...

'' tune of the same name.

Track listing

Chorus / samples

"Swords Drawn" *"Suspiria" by

Goblin A goblin is a small, grotesque, monstrous creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearances depending on t ...

from the album

Suspiria ''Suspiria'' () is a 1977 Italian supernatural horror film directed by Dario Argento, who co-wrote the screenplay with Daria Nicolodi, partially based on Thomas De Quincey's 1845 essay ''Suspiria de Profundis''. The film stars Jessica Harper as ...

Beneath the Planet of the Apes ''Beneath the Planet of the Apes'' is a 1970 American science fiction film directed by Ted Post and written by Paul Dehn. It is the second of five films in the original ''Planet of the Apes'' series produced by Arthur P. Jacobs. The film stars Jam ...

" sample. *"

The Resurrected ''The Resurrected'' (also known as ''The Ancestor'' and ''Shatterbrain'') is a 1991 American horror film directed by Dan O'Bannon, and starring John Terry, Jane Sibbett, Chris Sarandon and Robert Romanus. It is an adaptation of the H. P. Lo ...

" sample. "Time To Rock" *"Rhyme Tyme" by Kool G. Rap & DJ Polo from the album ''

Rated XXX Rated XXX is a compilation album by East coast rap group Kool G. Rap & DJ Polo released in 1996. Track listing {{Authority control 1996 albums Kool G Rap albums Albums produced by Marley Marl ...

'' *"As The Rhyme Goes On" by Eric B. & Rakim from the album '' Paid in Full'' *"Put It On" by

Big L Lamont Coleman (May 30, 1974February 15, 1999), known professionally as Big L, was an American rapper and record executive. Emerging from Harlem in New York City in 1992, Coleman became known among underground hip-hop fans for his freestyling ...

from the album ''

Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous ''Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Big L, and the only to be released during his lifetime. It was released on March 28, 1995 by Columbia Records. Recording sessions took place primarily at Powerplay ...

'' *"Parental Discretion" by

Big Pun Christopher Lee Rios (November 10, 1971 – February 7, 2000), better known by his stage name Big Pun (short for Big Punisher), was an American rapper. Emerging from the underground hip hop scene in the Bronx borough of New York City in the ea ...

from the album ''

Capital Punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

'' *"Mad Scientist" by

Large Professor William Paul Mitchell (born March 21, 1972), better known by the stage name of Large Professor (also Extra P. and Large Pro), is an American rapper and record producer. Based in New York City, he is known as a founding member of the underground ...

from the album '' The LP'' "Dump the Clip" *"Godzilla Theme Tune" by

Akira Ifukube was a Japanese classical and film music composer, best known for his works on the ''Godzilla'' franchise. Biography Early years in Hokkaido Akira Ifukube was born on 31 May 1914 in Kushiro, Japan as the third son of a police officer Toshimi ...

from the movie ''

Godzilla vs. Gigan , is a 1972 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Jun Fukuda, written by Shinichi Sekizawa, and produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka, with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano. Distributed by Toho and produced under their effects-based subsidiary Toho-Eizo, ...

'' *"Deathstalker" quote by Rick Hill *''

Raiders of the Lost Ark ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. It stars Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, Ronal ...

'' sample "Strike Back" *"

Halftime In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in ...

" by

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...

from the album ''

Illmatic ''Illmatic'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Nas. It was released on April 19, 1994, by Columbia Records. After signing with the label with the help of MC Serch, Nas recorded the album in 1992 and 1993 at Chung King Studios, D&D Re ...

'' "Don't Cry" *"Don't Cry, Baby" by

Etta James Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer who performed in various genres, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock and roll, and soul. Starting her career in 1954, sh ...

from the album '' The Second Time Around'' "Bloody Tears" *"Bloody Tears" by Kenichi Matsubara, Masahiro Ikariko, Kazuhiko Uehara and T-San from the game '' Castlevania II: Simon's Quest''

References

2007 albums Army of the Pharaohs albums Babygrande Records albums {{2007-hiphop-album-stub