Last August, Stone Sour announced that they were planning to tour without bassist Shawn Economaki, who had left for personal issues. While his departure didn’t seem permanent at the time, Stone Sour had continued playing without Economaki throughout the year. And while an official announcement hasn’t been issued, members of the hard rock group have let it be known that Economaki is no longer in Stone Sour.

Guitarist Jim Root (also of Slipknot, along with singer Corey Taylor) was the first to let it slip via his Instagram account yesterday (May 3). After posting a picture of an unidentified bassist taken during Stone Sour’s recording sessions for their new album, Root said the following:

“Shawn is no longer with us. A lot has happened in the past year… We need to move forward and they’ll be more detail when the time is right. He’s still a great friend and we’re in touch. But for now we have a mystery dude that shreds filling in for the studio.”

Corey Taylor confirmed the news via a tweet made earlier today, saying:

“As some of you might have heard but I’ll confirm it: Shawn Economaki is no longer with Stone Sour. We wish him luck in the future.”

As mentioned before, it remains unknown as to who is in the studio with Stone Sour playing bass. Chances are, though, we’ll find out soon enough since Taylor also revealed that their new album, which he previously said will be a concept album, is slated for an October 2012 release.