page_title: Army of the Pharaohs
section_title: 2004–2007: Torture Papers & Ritual of Battle
hierarchical_section_title: Army of the Pharaohs / Recording history / 2004–2007: Torture Papers & Ritual of Battle
caption_attribution_description: English: A photograph of the members of hip-hop supergroup Army of the Pharaohs
context_page_description: Army of the Pharaohs is an American underground hip hop collective originating from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed by Jedi Mind Tricks founder Vinnie Paz in 1998. The collective has strong links to other underground east coast groups such as OuterSpace, Snowgoons, La Coka Nostra, Demigodz, 7L & Esoteric, and JuJu Mob. It has changed several times since its formation.
  Paz formed the outfit in the late 1990s with the original roster of Bahamadia, Chief Kamachi, Virtuoso, 7L & Esoteric, plus Jedi Mind Tricks' other member Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind. The group first released the "Five Perfect Exertions" and "War Ensemble" 12" on Paz's short-lived Recordings in 1998, but then the underground supergroup remained silent for several years. After a couple of successful Jedi Mind Tricks albums and a new deal with Babygrande by 2003, Paz resurrected the crew, adding OuterSpace, Celph Titled, Reef the Lost Cauze, King Syze, Des Devious, and Apathy; however, Stoupe, Bahamadia, and Virtuoso had defected from the group. Babygrande issued their "Tear It Down" 12" and first album, The Torture Papers, in 2006.
context_section_description: The group did not return until 2005, without Virtuoso and Bahamadia. The group was now composed of Paz, Kamachi, 7L & Esoteric, OuterSpace, Apathy, Celph Titled, Reef the Lost Cauze, Des Devious, King Syze and Faez One. After years of anticipation, the group recorded its first album, The Torture Papers. It was released in March 2006 on Babygrande Records. The album was produced by AOTP affiliates such as DC the MIDI Alien,  Undefined, Beyonder, Loptimist, and German producer Shuko. The album includes the singles "Tear It Down" and "Battle Cry", the former having a music video. The latter was a posse cut with nine of the group's then ten members. The album entered the top 50 on Billboard's Top Independent Album Chart, and reached #42 on the magazine's Heatseekers chart. An unofficial continuation of The Torture Papers soon began circulating around the Internet called The Bonus Papers. It was composed of tracks not released on the album as it was thought that the songs didn't fit the artistic design of the album while others were known to have been extremely political and were possibly held back to reduce controversy.
  Army of the Pharaohs released another mixtape in 2007 titled After Torture There's Pain. As the name suggests, it was released as an addition to their debut album; The Torture Papers. The group's second album, Ritual of Battle, was released on September 25, 2007. Ritual of Battle's single, "Bloody Tears", used a sample taken from the soundtrack of the video game series Castlevania. The group added four new members for the album: Jedi Mind Tricks member Jus Allah, Doap Nixon, Demoz and King Magnetic. Apathy was not on Ritual of Battle as he was working on another project with Styles of Beyond.
caption: Prominent members of the group, 2006
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