The finer details of metal line-ups are often overlooked by mainstream rock fans, so we'll try to provide some good context here. Stone Sour is a band featuring Corey Taylor on vocals and — until this year — Jim Root on lead guitar. Root was unceremoniously fired in May, which left him quite perplexed. The awkward part? Taylor and Root are also in Slipknot together.
"It made it awkward," Root told MetalHammer. "But we didn't really have a lot of time to spend together.
"The thing that made it hard was when I had to start talking for myself about what happened. I sat on it for quite a while - until I couldn't sit on it any more."
Root is now speaking out about his departure from Stone Sour, and he's pretty salty.
"I spent 12 years helping that band, writing songs for that band and doing things for them," he said. "When people conspire and turn their back on you because you have a bigger obligation to get to, it's a little bit like, 'Well, I guess that's that.'
"But when people don't give you any reasons then all you can do is speculate. If people are going to make decisions like that for their career, I honestly would rather get on the life raft and get away from that sinking ship."
You could feel the passive aggression oozing from Root.
"Hey, if that's what they feel they needed to do so they could go play another month's worth of shows and do a cover record, then more power to you, have fun with that," he said. "I know where my passion lies and where my brothers are."
It's hard to believe Root will continue to play with Taylor after comments like these: "Maybe there's neurotic people who are nervous and don't know what their future is - so they have to make rash decisions to try to make sure they have a future. But that's short-sighted. I tend to look past the end of my nose for my future."
Root vs. Taylor is the most intriguing #MetalFight of 2014, and it's sure to get bumpier after that "sinking ship" line. Let's harken back to the good old days with this SS tune.
