He had pretty much removed himself as a player from Echobrain, who were winding down, before he joined Voivod. He did double duty on Ozzfest tour, doing the Voivod set and then playing Ozzy’s set afterwards.
This video is well worth watching for anyone who hasn’t seen it.He goes into the bullying and Hetfield’s objection to him having side projects (he had projects with Andreas from Sepultura and Tom Hunting from Exodus before Echobrain and even guests on a track on Sepultura’s Against album) and Echobrain was the clincher.
Great player, he doesn't get as much credit as he should because he plays with a plec but, on the first F&J album in particular, he is a beast, before Metallica squeezed the life out of him.