Slipknot’s Jim Root says he and vocalist Corey Taylor would have ended up killing each other if he had stayed in Stone Sour.

The guitarist left the band under a cloud back in 2014, with Root claiming he was sacked over the phone, while Taylor previously admitted to Metal Hammer that his departure was “a difficult time.”

And, in the latest issue of Metal Hammer, which features Slipknot as the cover stars, Root says his relationship with Taylor is much better than it was when the duo were in Stone Sour.

Root says: “Corey and I are much closer now. It’s the best thing, me leaving Stone Sour. We would have just ended up killing each other and driving each other crazy. I can’t spread myself that thin.

“I needed it, this band needed it and Stone Sour certainly needed it. I just didn’t have the time to commit that I’d have liked. I think they were tired of my shitty attitude, that’s for sure.”

Root also reveals that the closeness of all the band has resulted in one of the most exciting albums of Slipknot's career – We Are Not Your Kind, which will be released this coming Friday (August 9).

The guitarist says: “.5: The Gray Chapter was kind of built in the studio. Those songs came straight from my garage and they don’t have the push and pull of a live band.

“We got to a point this time where we were playing the songs as a band and tracked them with and without a click track. The ones without click are the ones that we used on the record.

“It was like taking the reins off and the songs just came alive. You’ll hear the life in the record. It definitely feels a lot more like a band, and that is what we are: We’re a live band.”

The full interview with Root and his Slipknot bandmates can be found in the new issue of Metal Hammer which is on sale now.

Earlier this week, Slipknot released a video for their latest single Birth Of The Cruel, which followed Unsainted and Solway Firth.

Slipknot are currently touring on their Knotfest Roadshow with special guests Volbeat, Gojira and Behemoth.