Ritual of Battle

Ritual of Battle is the second studio album by underground hip hop collective Army of the Pharaohs. Released on September 25, 2007 under Babygrande Records, the album features group members Vinnie Paz, Jus Allah, OuterSpace, Chief Kamachi, Reef the Lost Cauze, Esoteric, Celph Titled, King Syze, Des Devious, Doap Nixon, Demoz, and King Magnetic. Although he was prominently featured on the group's debut album The Torture Papers, Apathy 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 in Los Angeles during the Army's album recording sessions. The rapper recorded for one song, titled "A.O.T.P.", produced by Snowgoons, 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.

Ritual of Battle
Studio album by Army of the Pharaohs
Released	September 25, 2007
Recorded	2007
Genre	Hip hop, horrorcore
Length	66:36
Label	Babygrande
Producer	Esoteric, Celph Titled, Aktone, Vanderslice, Ill Bill, Sicknature, DJ Kwestion, Skammadix, Beyonder, JbL
Army of the Pharaohs chronology
The Torture Papers (2006) Ritual of Battle (2007) The Unholy Terror (2010)
Singles from Ritual of Battle
"Bloody Tears"

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
HipHopDX	link
Okayplayer	89/100 link
PopMatters	7/10 link
RapReviews.com	8.5/10 link

The album's first single is "Bloody Tears", featuring Planetary, Doap Nixon, Demoz and Vinnie Paz and based on the Castlevania tune of the same name.

Track listing

#	Title	Producer(s)	Performer (s)
1	"Swords Drawn"	Esoteric	First verse: Chief Kamachi Second verse: Demoz Third verse: Planetary Fourth verse: Esoteric Fifth verse: Reef the Lost Cauze Sixth verse: Celph Titled
2	"Time to Rock"	Celph Titled	First verse: Celph Titled Second verse: Demoz Third verse: Vinnie Paz
3	"Dump the Clip"	Esoteric	First verse: Planetary Second verse: Esoteric Third verse: Celph Titled
4	"Black Christmas"	Aktone	First verse: Planetary Second verse: Doap Nixon Third verse: Des Devious Fourth verse: Demoz Fifth verse: King Magnetic Sixth verse: Vinnie Paz Chorus: Demoz
5	"Blue Steel"	Vanderslice	First verse: Vinnie Paz Second verse: Jus Allah
6	"Gun Ballad"	Ill Bill & Sicknature	First verse: Chief Kamachi Second verse: Demoz Third verse: Vinnie Paz Fourth verse: Doap Nixon Chorus: Demoz
7	"Strike Back"	DJ Kwestion	First verse: Planetary Second verse: Demoz Third verse: King Syze Fourth verse: Esoteric Fifth verse: Vinnie Paz
8	"Frontline"	Aktone	First verse: Doap Nixon Second verse: Vinnie Paz Third verse: Planetary Fourth verse: King Syze Fifth verse: Demoz
9	"Through Blood By Thunder"	Skammadix	First verse: Chief Kamachi Second verse: Crypt the Warchild Third verse: Demoz Fourth verse: Vinnie Paz Fifth verse: Jus Allah
10	"Murda Murda"	Esoteric	First verse: Crypt the Warchild Second verse: Des Devious Third verse: Celph Titled Chorus: Crypt the Warchild
11	"Bloody Tears"	DJ Kwestion	First verse: Planetary Second verse: Doap Nixon Third verse: Demoz Fourth verse: Vinnie Paz Chorus: Demoz
12	"Seven"	Ill Bill & Sicknature	First verse: Planetary Second verse: Chief Kamachi Third verse: King Syze Fourth verse: Reef the Lost Cauze Fifth verse: Doap Nixon Sixth verse: Demoz Seventh verse: Celph Titled Eighth verse: Vinnie Paz
13	"Drama Theme"	Aktone	First verse: Jus Allah Second verse: Chief Kamachi Third verse: Vinnie Paz Fourth verse: Doap Nixon Fifth verse: Celph Titled Sixth verse: King Magnetic Seventh verse: Demoz Chorus: Demoz
14	"Pages in Blood"	Beyonder	First verse: Vinnie Paz Second verse: Demoz Third verse: Chief Kamachi Chorus: Demoz
15	"D and D"	Aktone	First verse: Des Devious Second verse: Demoz
16	"Don't Cry"	JbL	First verse: Doap Nixon Second verse: Planetary Third verse: Demoz Fourth verse: Vinnie Paz Chorus: Doap Nixon

Chorus / samples

"Swords Drawn"

• "Suspiria" by Goblin from the album Suspiria
• "Beneath the Planet of the Apes" sample.
• "The Resurrected" sample.

"Time To Rock"

• "Rhyme Tyme" by Kool G. Rap & DJ Polo from the album Rated XXX
• "As The Rhyme Goes On" by Eric B. & Rakim from the album Paid in Full
• "Put It On" by Big L from the album Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous
• "Parental Discretion" by Big Pun from the album Capital Punishment
• "Mad Scientist" by Large Professor from the album The LP

"Dump the Clip"

• "Godzilla Theme Tune" by Akira Ifukube from the movie Godzilla vs. Gigan
• "Dealthstalker" quote by Rick Hill
• Raiders of the Lost Ark sample

"Strike Back"

• "Halftime" by Nas from the album Illmatic

"Don't Cry"

• "Don't Cry, Baby" by Etta James 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