Jim Root says that his departure from STONE SOUR has been "a blessing." The guitarist was dismissed from STONE SOUR at the end of 2013 — even as he and singer Corey Taylor were working together on a new SLIPKNOT album. In a recent interview with HMV.com, Root said that he is far more content not having to split his time between the two groups. "It's why I'm not in that band anymore," he said of STONE SOUR. "I was spreading myself too thin. That was making me unhappy and that, in turn, was making the rest of STONE SOUR unhappy. You can't evaluate your situation when you're in a band, not really. But it's been such a blessing, I can focus my energy on one band and I don't have to juggle anymore. It didn't work for me. Corey's different. He needs things to be 'go, go, go' all the time. I need time to decompress and to figure things out. I can't be on tour constantly if I really want to be creative." Root did not speak kindly of STONE SOUR in interviews after he was fired, saying: "Some of the guys in STONE SOUR, I think they just want to be a radio band and write strictly for radio and try to be more of a poppy rock band. And that's not really what I'm into. There's at least one guy in the band that's only concerned about money. I really have no desire to associate with people like that anymore." Root played on the first five STONE SOUR studio records, including 2010's "Audio Secrecy" and the double concept album "House Of Gold & Bones". Back in 2014, Root claimed that he was fired over the phone, which he thought "was pretty lame." He also told Revolver magazine that "it became apparent" near the end of the album cycle for "House Of Gold & Bones" that "it had basically run its course. But the band kept pushing for more dates, and I was just, like, 'It's time to stop.'" Root told The Pulse Of Radio when he first revealed that he was sitting out a STONE SOUR tour — before it was announced that he was let go — that he was already dealing with a lot of stress juggling the two bands. "You know, unfortunately I'm only one person," he said. "I can't really be in two places at one time and the amount of focus that I need to put into SLIPKNOT makes it really difficult for me to be on tour with STONE SOUR. It's crushing and it's heartbreaking and I really don't like the idea of not being out there, but I don't really see any other way to really do it." Root said that he was dismissed from STONE SOUR in November 2013, revealing, "I was mad because STONE SOUR wanted to go do a tour and they didn't want me to be a part of it. So I had a little anger, and I had a little bit of depression. I was kind of hurt. But at the same time, it was probably all for the better, because I wasn't really happy in that band anymore." At the time, Taylor addressed the issue as well, saying, "It was difficult, at first. It put a strain between he and I for a little bit. It was one of those things where the timing just sucked. But at the same time, we knew that, on both sides, we've gotta do what we've gotta do." Four and a half years ago, STONE SOUR named guitarist Christian Martucci as the permanent replacement for Root. Martucci was recruited to play on the band's early 2014 tour tour and was confirmed as a permanent member in March 2015 in a Facebook post.
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