MESHUGGAH's TOMAS HAAKE Details His Skin Condition That Makes Drumming Difficult

Meshuggah drummer and all-around legend Tomas Haake has revealed to Rolling Stone that he's unfortunately dealing with an odd case of eczema. Haake said the condition has made drumming difficult to the extent that he hasn't touched the kit since recording Immutable.

"I have this eczema inside my hands. I've got to tape up all my fingers and put on gloves just to mess around on the kit, even. That means I haven't really touched the drums since we recorded the album, and that was, like, early April. So I'm almost a year out, without even hitting a drum."

Haake added that he's been to specialists about the condition since his diagnosis in 2020, but nobody's been able to figure it out.

"I've been to so many specialists and dermatologists about this at this point and they're all like, 'Huh?' They say it looks like contact eczema, but we've ruled that out because I've done all the tests that you can do, as far as anything that I might come in contact with. It goes up and down, but it's a bummer, for sure, whether you're a drummer or not. I mean, we all need our hands to function for daily life."

Haake later said that he won't let the condition depress him and that "I will still have to play" regardless. Read the full interview here. Meshuggah will release their new record Immutable on April 1, and you can check out our extensive track-by-track review of Immutable here.