My honeymoon period with Jedi Mind Tricks held equal infatuation with both producer Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind and lead MC Vinnie Paz — the former for his alluring symphony-hall dramatics and the latter his unprecedented ability to push dangerously pure testosterone up my passive veins.

Now that our relationship has reached that touchy level of overfamiliarity, I can finally see my lovers outside the film of passion. My affair with Jedi Mind Tricks-backed supergroup Army of the Pharaohs and their early 2006 release The Lost Papers could have had something to do with it: Featured rappers R.A. the Rugged Man, Reef the Lost Cauze and Celph-Titled did to me what Paz did, only better, and all those Stoupe beat imitators could have fooled me in likeness.

Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell is our first encounter since. Stoupe outdoes his former self to sweep me up (if only in sound) with Latin rose waltzes and heart-starting horse-drawn carriage races that trample every Army beat to a pulp.

Paz, sadly, lets me down a little. Maybe I was just too lovestruck to see it before, but his wolfish hate tangents and “Cousin!” “Daddy!” battle cries haven’t evolved at all since we first met, except in the direction of sappy. That’s not to say I don’t still admire his innate skill for writing and slamming down hard-as-hell lyrics to really get my blood boiling — it’s just a little false and overdone by now, far outshone by killer guest spots from R.A., Reef, Chief Kamachi, Sean Price and obvious influence Ill Bill. “Most of my adult life I’ve been torn into two/ If you love me then I love you and this song is for you,” he raps after a creepy little-kid lollipop sample on “Black Winter Day.” I still love you, Vinnie. I’m just not in love with you.