Take away Wu-Tang’s gold-chain glamour, mix some white and brown into their black, and remove the Zen from their watered-down Muslim philosophy — you’ve got Army of the Pharaohs, Philly’s 21st century version of early Wu: a murder-happy, blindingly confident hip-hop cult, ready to break out of the underground and take over the world.

Jedi Mind Tricks (producer Stoupe and Allah-worshipping MC Vinnie Paz) have been gathering and dropping crew members over their past few albums (most recently, mixtape Army of the Pharaohs) and the dark army has finally evolved into a twelve-mic equilibrium. Each verse of the triumphant debut picks up where the last left off, a chain of cooperative battle, harmonious street nightmares missing nary a link. A warrior-like verse from Apathy — “I put you up on the IV, not the Roman Numeral 4 / But the IV that leads to the funeral floor” — opens The Torture Papers, leading 13 tracks of uninterrupted fury.

Stoupe is mysteriously absent in the album credits, but every violent orchestral loop and pulsating voice-beat placed by a group of mostly unknown beatmasters gives tribute to Jedi Mind’s signature bloodcurdling production. Paz, on the other hand, is all over the place — his terrifyingly angry, gravelled flow stands out on almost every track, though slightly weaker than usual. He’s often bettered by Esoteric, Apathy, Reef the Lost Cauze (who should appear more often) and throaty pitbull Celph Titled.

One thing is for sure: AOTP ain’t nuthin’ ta fuck wit.