SOiL Guitarist Sounds Off About Ex-Frontman

"We had our problems with Ryan in the past over certain issues," says Glass, guitarist for the Chicago-based alternative metal ensemble. "He told us he wanted to be done with music, so he could be home with his family."

Famous for his bellowing vocals that equally matched the band's heavy guitar riffs, McCombs shot a metaphorical middle finger at his former SOiL bandmates when he became Drowning Pool's frontman in 2005.

"We respected his decision," says Glass, phoning from England's Heathrow Airport in London. "And then, all of a sudden, we heard that he wanted to be in a band again. Whatever, man."

According to the outspoken 29-year-old founding member, breaking up isn't hard to do. In fact, Glass insists that SOiL's newbie vocalist, AJ Cavalier, is a testosterone-fueled shot in the band's arm.

"He's definitely a step in the right direction from what we've always wanted with a singer," he says. "He can do melodic songs. He can do heavy songs. And he's a good frontman. Most important, he gets along with us. He's serious about the music and he's a team player."

Although Glass doesn't attack McCombs directly, there's a tinge of animosity when he talks about the past.

"It's a band," he snipes. "Not a solo group. Everybody in the band has to put their opinion into what's going on and give 110 percent. No matter where you are or what's going on in your life, you have to go onstage and deliver the goods."

No, SOiL's "Scars" haven't exactly healed.

"We don't pay attention to what's going on in his world," Glass says about McCombs. "The good thing is our new material is the best SOiL album we've ever put out."

SOiL's core group-which includes guitarists Glass and Adam Zadel, bassist Tim King and drummer Tom Schofield-all believe that Cavalier has raised the bar sonically on their latest CD, "True Self." The band plans to launch the US edition of their "True Rock" tour in May.

"The whole premise of this new record was to take the elements that our fans knew and loved about Soil and bring them to a new level," King says. "We've added a new dimension lyrically and have taken things further-but instead of taking one step forward, we've taken five."

But has the vocalist switcheroo affected the band's sound?

"Not really," Glass says, adding tthat he's recently teamed up with vocalist Jermz (A Texas Funeral) and drummer James Knight (ex-The Blank Theory) to form a new band, Dirge, while SOiL is on hiatus. "We still sound like SOiL. The way we write our music has always been the same. The four of us go in a room and jam. That's how we did it in the past."

And Glass adds there's room for debate.

"We basically write the song and give it to the singer. We've always been the ones writing the songs," he says. "And if he thinks it needs to be changed or extended here and there, then we hash it out. We have our formula down."