Apocrypha is a melodic death metal band from Arlington Heights IL. Founded in 2004 by current members Steve Amarantos, Zeke Fang, and Jake Fromkin and went by the name Midnite Mayhem as a 1980’s hair metal cover band. With the addition of guitarist Scott Neilson in 2005, the band changed their name to Havoc and began to cover heavier music. By covering songs like Crazy Train, Raining Blood, and a “metaled out” version of Cat Scratch Fever, the band quickly won multiple battle of the bands and frequented local festival stages. Havoc released their first, self-titled EP in 2006. After Scott Neilson left the band, then bassist and front man, Steve Amarantos, moved to guitar and Mike Tsipis was brought in on bass. The band then changed its name to Apocrypha and released their second EP, “Creature of the Night”. This EP was much heavier and had distinct influences from bands like Children of Bodom and Slayer. After Apocrypha’s first full-length album, “Into the Grave” (2009) was released, the band started to get much greater recognition. Steve’s brother Kevin was added to bass after Mike Tsipis left and they went on to play larger shows with bigger bands and shared the stage with acts like Children of Bodom, Dark Tranquility, Arsis, and Down.
Currently, Apocrypha has just released their latest full-length album, “In the Shadow of Reality”. They have been featured in magazines and radio stations nationwide, sold hundreds of albums all over the world, and have fans and listeners in over 20 countries.