Tomas Haake (born 13 July 1971) is a Swedish musician and the drummer of the

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

band

Meshuggah Meshuggah () is a Swedish extreme metal band formed in Umeå in 1985. Originally, the band's name was Metallien. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Jens Kidman, guitarists Fredrik Thordendal and Mårten Hagström, drummer Tomas ...

. Known for his

polymeters In music, metre ( Commonwealth spelling) or meter (American spelling) refers to regularly recurring patterns and accents such as bars and beats. Unlike rhythm, metric onsets are not necessarily sounded, but are nevertheless implied by the perfo ...

and technical ability, Haake was named the fifth best "Modern Metal" drummer by

MetalSucks MetalSucks is a heavy metal music-themed news website. The site features reviews, interviews, information on latest metal releases and blog-like posts from the writers, most notably Vince Neilstein and Axl Rosenberg. History The site was foun ...

.net in 2012. In the July 2008 edition of ''

Modern Drummer ''Modern Drummer'' is a monthly publication targeting the interests of drummers and percussionists. The magazine features interviews, equipment reviews, and columns offering advice on technique, as well as information for the general public. ''Mo ...

'' magazine, Haake was named the number one drummer in the "Metal" category, as decided upon in the magazine's Readers' Poll. He was also included in ''100 Greatest Drummers of All Time'' list by the ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' magazine (occupying the 93rd position).

Career

Haake writes the majority of Meshuggah lyrics and also contributes spoken vocals on several songs ("Choirs of Devastation" on the album ''

Contradictions Collapse ''Contradictions Collapse'' is the debut studio album by Swedish extreme metal band Meshuggah. The album was released in 1991 by Nuclear Blast. ''Contradictions Collapse'' was originally titled ''(All This Because of) Greed''. The album leans mor ...

'', "Inside What's Within Behind", "Suffer in Truth", and "Sublevels" on the album ''

Destroy Erase Improve ''Destroy Erase Improve'' is the second studio album by Swedish metal band Meshuggah. It was released on 12 May 1995 by Nuclear Blast. This is the first studio album to feature rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagström and the final to feature bassist P ...

'', "Sane", "The Exquisite Machinery of Torture" on the album '' Chaosphere'', "Spasm" on the album ''

Nothing Nothing, the complete absence of anything, has been a matter of philosophical debate since at least the 5th century BC. Early Greek philosophers argued that it was impossible for ''nothing'' to exist. The atomists allowed ''nothing'' but only i ...

'', as well as on several tracks on the album ''

Catch Thirtythree ''Catch Thirtythree'' is the fifth studio album by Swedish extreme metal band Meshuggah. It was released on 16 May 2005 in Europe and on 31 May 2005 in North America, through Nuclear Blast. ''Catch Thirtythree'' entered the ''Billboard'' 200 ch ...

'' and on the song "Dancers to a Discordant System" from ''

obZen ''obZen'' is the sixth studio album by Swedish extreme metal band Meshuggah. It was released in Europe on 7 March 2008, and in North America on 11 March 2008 through Nuclear Blast. Tomas Haake made his return as the studio drummer for the record ...

''). Haake also provides spoken vocals on

guitarist

Fredrik Thordendal Fredrik Thordendal (born 11 February 1970) is a Swedish musician, best known as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the extreme metal band Meshuggah, of which he is a founding member. Along with Meshuggah's rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagstr ...

's solo album ''

Sol Niger Within ''Sol Niger Within'' is the first release by Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects, a side project of Meshuggah guitarist Fredrik Thordendal. The album was originally released in 1997 on the Ultimate Audio Entertainment label. The album was remix ...

'' and vocals on the song "Futile Bread Machine (Campfire Version)" from ''

The True Human Design ''The True Human Design'' is the fourth EP by Swedish extreme metal band Meshuggah. It was released through Nuclear Blast on 19 July 1997 in Europe and on 25 November 1997 in the United States. The EP includes an enhanced CD-ROM video track fo ...

''.

Influences

Haake has cited musicians from heavy metal,

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...

and

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

as influences. He cites English bands such as

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

and

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

, American bands such as

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

Slayer Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along wit ...

Anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...

, Testament and

Metal Church Metal Church is an American heavy metal band. They originally formed in San Francisco, California in 1980 and then relocated to Aberdeen, Washington the following year and briefly using the name Shrapnel. Led by guitarist and songwriter Kurd ...

, and Canadian band

Rush Rush(es) may refer to: Places United States * Rush, Colorado * Rush, Kentucky * Rush, New York * Rush City, Minnesota * Rush Creek (Kishwaukee River tributary), Illinois * Rush Creek (Marin County, California), a stream * Rush Creek (Mono Cou ...

. His favourite drummers include

Phil Rudd Phillip Hugh Norman Rudd (born Phillip Hugh Norman Witschke Rudzevecuis, 19 May 1954) is an Australian drummer, best known as the drummer of AC/DC across three stints. On the 1977 departure of bass guitarist Mark Evans (musician), Mark Evans fr ...

(

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...

), Bill Ward (

Vinnie Appice Vincent Samson Appice (born September 13, 1957) is an American rock drummer best known for his work with the bands Dio (band), Dio, Black Sabbath, and Heaven & Hell (band), Heaven & Hell. Of Italian descent, he is the younger brother of drummer ...

Lars Ulrich Lars Ulrich (; ; born 26 December 1963) is a Danish musician best known as the drummer and co-founder of American heavy metal band Metallica. The son and grandson respectively of tennis players Torben and Einer Ulrich, he played tennis in his ...

(

Dave Weckl Dave Weckl (born January 8, 1960 in St. Louis, Missouri) is an American jazz fusion drummer and the leader of the Dave Weckl Band. He was inducted into the ''Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2000. Biography Weckl started playing his first se ...

, Sebastian Thomson (Trans AM),

Sean Reinert Sean Reinert (May 27, 1971 – January 24, 2020) was an American musician. He was the drummer for the rock band Æon Spoke and the drummer and founding member of the progressive metal band Cynic (band), Cynic until leaving the band in Septemb ...

( Cynic),

Neil Peart Neil Ellwood Peart OC (; September 12, 1952 – January 7, 2020) was a Canadian-American musician, best known as the drummer and primary lyricist of the rock band Rush. Peart earned numerous awards for his musical performances, including an ...

(Rush),

Ian Mosley Ian F. Mosley (born 16 June 1953, Paddington, London, England) is an English drummer. He is best known for his long-time membership of the neo-progressive rock band Marillion, which he joined for their second album, ''Fugazi'', released in 19 ...

(

Marillion Marillion are a British rock music, rock band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becomin ...

Terry Bozzio Terry John Bozzio (born December 27, 1950) is an American drummer best known for his work with Missing Persons and Frank Zappa. He has been featured on nine solo or collaborative albums, 26 albums with Zappa and seven albums with Missing Person ...

(

Missing Persons A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, de ...

and

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...

Vinnie Colaiuta Vincent Peter Colaiuta (born February 5, 1956) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician in many genres. He was inducted into the ''Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 1996 and the ''Classic Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2014. Colai ...

and

Gary Husband Gary Husband (born 14 June 1960) is an English jazz and rock drummer, pianist, keyboard player and bandleader. He is also a composer, arranger and producer. Husband is a member of John McLaughlin's group The 4th Dimension, he also regularly pe ...

Personal life

Haake is married to actress/musician,

Jessica Pimentel Jessica Pimentel (born September 20, 1982) is an American actress and musician. She is best known for her role as Maria Ruiz on the Netflix original series ''Orange Is the New Black.'' She is also the lead singer of the metal band Alekhine's G ...

, beginning their romantic relationship in 2013.

Equipment

*Drums –

Sonor Sonor is a German musical instrument manufacturing company headquartered in Bad Berleburg. Established in 1875, it is one of the oldest percussion companies in the world. Sonor currently manufactures drum kits and hardware. Apart from drum ki ...

SQ2 Series **14x14" Tom **16x15" Floor Tom **18x18" Floor Tom **22x18" Bass Drum (2x) **14x6"

Artists Bronze Series Snare with Tama Power Hoops *Cymbals –

Sabian Sabian may refer to: *Sabians, name of a religious group mentioned in the Quran, historically adopted by: **Mandaeans, Gnostic sect from the marshlands of southern Iraq claiming John the Baptist as their most important prophet **Sabians of Harran, ...

**14" HHX Compression Hi-Hats **19" AAXtreme Chinese **19" HHX Stage Crash **21" HHX Stage Crash **20" HHX Stage Crash **19" Paragon Chinese/15" HH thin Crash (stacked) **15" HHX Stage Hats **22" Legacy Ride (as crash) **21" AAXtreme Chinese *Drum heads –

Remo Remo Inc. is an American musical instruments manufacturing company based in Valencia, California, and founded by Remo Belli in 1957. Products manufactured include drum kits, drumheads, drums, and hardware. History Drummer and founder Re ...

**Toms: (12", 14", 15", 18") Coated Emperors, Ebony Ambassadors – bottom **Bass drums: (22") Powerstroke 3 Coated – batter, PowerStroke 3 Ebony – front **Snare: (14") Emperor X – top, Snare Side Hazy – bottom *Hardware –

Pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

, Porter & Davies **Tama Speed Cobra single Pedal (2x) **Porter & Davies BC2 w/backrest *Sticks – Wincent Tomas Haake Signature Drumsticks

Discography

Meshuggah *''

'' (1991) *''

None None may refer to: *Zero, the mathematical concept of the quantity "none" *Empty set, the mathematical concept of the collection of things represented by "none" *''none'', an indefinite pronoun in the English language Music * ''None'' (Meshuggah E ...

'' (EP, 1994) *''

Selfcaged ''Selfcaged'' is the third EP by Swedish extreme metal band Meshuggah. It was initially recorded as a demo for the upcoming album '' Destroy Erase Improve'' but was eventually released in 1995 by Nuclear Blast as a teaser for the next album. R ...

'' (EP, 1995) *''

'' (1995) *'' Chaosphere'' (1998) *''

'' (2002) *'' I'' (EP, 2004) *''

'' (2005) *'' Nothing – Re-issue'' (2006) *''

'' (2008) *''

Koloss ''Koloss'' is the seventh album by Swedish metal band Meshuggah, released on 23 March 2012 in Germany, on 26 March in the rest of Europe, and on March 27 in North America, by Nuclear Blast. Background Tomas Haake stated, "As always, we try to tak ...

'' (2012) *'' Pitch Black'' (EP, 2013) *'' The Violent Sleep of Reason'' (2016) *'' Immutable'' (2022)

References

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

Tomas Haake Goes It Alone
at

DRUM! Magazine {{italic title ''DRUM!'' is a North American educational drumming magazine. It features artist profiles, product reviews, lessons and advanced transcriptions covering rock, pop and related styles of music. The magazine was launched in 1991 wi ...

Meshuggah DRummer Tomas Haake Is Dating SOmeone From Orange Is The New Black
at Metal injection

External links

Meshuggah
official website
Meshuggah
at MySpace
Meshuggah
at

Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label mov ...

Europe
Meshuggah
at

USA {{DEFAULTSORT:Haake, Tomas Living people Meshuggah members People from Örnsköldsvik Municipality Progressive metal musicians Swedish experimental musicians Swedish heavy metal drummers Swedish songwriters 1971 births