Co-authored with Thom Hazaert, More Life With Deth serves as the follow-up to Megadeth bassist and co-founder David Ellefson’s initial memoir, My Life With Deth, published six years ago in 2013. In the preface, Ellefson states, “With this book, I look back on the decade since I rejoined Megadeth,” which he did on February 8, 2010. And that’s where the story begins, with Ellefson enrolled in online college to finish his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Admin. By his own admission, in his time away from Megadeth, Ellefson “grew in leaps and bounds as a man, professional, and person.”

Throughout this revealing 264-page paperback, The Big Four shows with Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax are detailed. In 2011, Megadeth released their Th1rt3en album, which is described as “probably the easiest, most relaxed Megadeth album for me to record.” The tragic 2016 passing of Megadeth drummer Nick Menza is touched upon, as is Altitudes & Attitude – Ellefson’s “liberating… and invigorating” side project with Anthrax bassist Frank Bello. And in 2017, after being nominated 12 times, Megadeth finally wins a Grammy for Dystopia. All the while, contributions from: Mark Slaughter, Jimmy DeGrasso, Brian Slagel, Kiko Loureiro, Mark Tremonti, Chris Adler, Dirk Verbeuren, K.K. Downing, and Alice Cooper, amongst others, lend additional insight into the events recollected. Quite noteworthy is the absence of any words from Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine.

More Life With Deth also focuses on David Ellefson’s 28 years of sobriety, which is his “way of making amends to our fans, and to Dave and the Megadeth organization, for the embarrassment and loss of income caused by my addiction.” The book also sheds light on the author’s entrepreneurial spirit, including managing all-girl group Doll Skin, his own EMP record label - which to date has released well over 50 titles, the 2016 launch of Ellefson Coffee Co., followed in 2017 by the opening of the first Ellefson Coffee Co. store, the re-launch of Combat Records, and David obtaining a minister’s license, allowing him to legally officiate weddings and funerals.

However, chapters eight, nine, and ten go back to the formative years of Megadeth, with extensive focus on So Far, So Good… So What!, thereby contradicting the mission statement laid out in the preface. In fact, Ellefson repeats himself by telling the exact same story recounted in My Life With Deth – that being the car crash, during which he was hit in the neck by a boom box cassette player causing whiplash. The final, and all-too brief chapter eleven, glances upon current-day Basstory clinics, the David Ellefson Youth Music Foundation, and October 9, 2018 – officially declared David Ellefson Day in his hometown of Jackson, Minnesota.