Megadeth Icon Dave Mustaine's 'In My Darkest Hour' Synopsis Revealed

By Editorial Staff | Published: Jan 17, 2026 4:29 PM EST

Da Capo have set a September 14, 2027 release date for Megadeth cofounder Dave Mustaine's second memoir, "In My Darkest Hour", that the thrash icon penned with Joe Layden (who worked with Dave on his 2010 book "Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir").

The publisher has released this synopsis for the book: Dave Mustaine is no stranger to pain and suffering. He battled demons all his life-including an alcoholic father, addiction, and black magic-and turned fifty-eight believing he'd survived the worst. But in 2019, Mustaine was forced to face the loss of his instantly recognizable voice and the disintegration of his musical talent. Diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma at the back of his tongue, his entire career-and possibly his life-was about to end.

For Mustaine, it was one more opportunity to fight like hell. In My Darkest Hour takes readers from the treatment room to the studio as Mustaine chronicles how his diagnosis inspired him to take up the pen and guitar pick, going from radiation and chemotherapy appointments straight into hours-long recording sessions, resulting in Megadeth's sixteenth studio album, The Sick, The Dying...and the Dead! Along the way, Mustaine details how confronting his own mortality brought him closer to his family, taught him how to ask for help, strengthened his faith, and challenged the vulnerability of his art.

Filled with perseverance, hope, and the determination to never let the bastards grind you down, In My Darkest Hour is a masterful portrait of a Dave Mustaine that the world has yet to see, and serves as a moving reminder that even our most invincible heroes are human.