Former STONE SOUR guitarist Jim Root says that he was hurt and angry after he was fired from the band at the end of last year but claims that it all worked out "for the better" because he "wasn't really happy" in the Corey Taylor-fronted group anymore. Root, who is also a member of SLIPKNOT and was a major contributor to the songwriting for that band's new album, ".5: The Gray Chapter", alongside Taylor, tells Revolver magazine: "It became apparent to me near the end of the album cycle for [STONE SOUR's] '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!'"He continued: "SLIPKNOT made it possible for STONE SOUR to have everything that it has and there were people in SLIPKNOT that have been sitting idly waiting to do a new album. And I had fans asking me every day, 'When are you doing SLIPKNOT?' It just seemed like it was in the air."Root says that he was finally dismissed from STONE SOUR in late 2013, several months before his exit was officially announced. "I guess you could say I was 'given the opportunity' to start the SLIPKNOT album, to put it sort of nicely," he tells Revolver. "Essentially in November, I found out that STONE SOUR wanted to do some more shows and they didn't want me to be a part of it."Being that he was no longer involved with STONE SOUR, Root was free to focus entirely on composing new SLIPKNOT material at his home in Florida. "I had so many emotions going on in my head when I was writing this shit," he says. "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 fucking 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." He added: "I love STONE SOUR. I love the music that we created. and it was a fun ride. But if I'm going to sacrifice all of my free time and my life for something, it has to be something that I a thousand-percent believe in, and something where I have a thousand-percent communication with everyone involved. And that something is SLIPKNOT."Root spoke with The Pulse Of Radio late last year about the difficulties of balancing STONE SOUR and SLIPKNOT. "You know, when you're in two bands like this, man, there's some big sacrifices that eventually have to come along and there's some, you know, kind of grown-up decisions you have to make and not all of them are gonna be easy decisions to make," he said.Root was replaced on the STONE SOUR tour earlier this year by Christian Martucci. It is not clear if Martucci will continue with the group.Taylor and Root spent much of the last four years recording and touring behind three full STONE SOUR studio records, including 2010's "Audio Secrecy" and the double concept album "House Of Gold & Bones".
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