Soon after they split up, he went on to perform in bands such as DeadFront and Stone Sour; he joined the latter in 1995, and returned to it along with vocalist Corey Taylor during its revival in 2002.

Although originally filling in the spot of rhythm guitar in 1999, Root would later become the co-lead guitarist and, after the death of bassist Paul Gray and removal of drummer Joey Jordison, he become one of the band's main songwriters.

[12] Outside Slipknot and Stone Sour, Root has appeared on Slipknot turntablist Sid Wilson's DJ Starscream album The New Leader and John 5's The Devil Knows My Name, for the song "Black Widow of La Porte", and also appeared on the Roadrunner United project, performing the solo and harmony guitars on "Tired 'N Lonely" from the project's album The All-Star Sessions.

Corey Taylor noted that the split initially put a strain on his and Root's relationship, which nonetheless was mended through channelling their frustrations into new Slipknot material.

[15] For 13 years, Root was involved in a highly publicized relationship with Cristina Scabbia, the lead singer of Italian gothic metal band Lacuna Coil.

[21] While Root primarily uses Orange Rockerverb heads live, he has been known to use a variety of amplifiers in the studio, including a modified Bogner Uberschall and Mesa Boogie Mark IIC, the later of which has appeared on 2004's Vol 3: The Subliminal Verses and 2019's We Are Not Your Kind.

[27] For gigs at smaller venues, and for use as a backup to his main Rockerverb setup, Root began using a Neural DSP Quad Cortex in 2024, despite previously saying he would never use digital amplifier modelers.