Circle is a west coast rock band, the west coast of Finland, that is. Their latest in a long line of innovative recordings, Hollywood, lists them as a "new exciting band from Finland." To most people, this is true enough, but to those paying attention, Circle has been making some of the most original modern rock music since the beginning of the 90s. Formed bybassist/guitarist/vocalist/creative wildman Jussi Lehtisalo, the group has been on an endless journey of musical exploration since they began. Besides being consummate players, the band are avid music collectors and enthusiasts; hence, Circle music and records have many stylistic touchstones, most notably Krautrock, artrock, avant garde, prog, and cinematic post rock.

Just when you think youre getting a handle on them, though, you see they also have a deep love of heavy metal, particularly from the 1980s, all manner of punk rock, as well as Velvet-style droning and even country and folk music. (Their love of metal forged their now infamous tagline-NWOFHM. Get it?)

Some have called them Finlands mighty masters of metallic hypno drone rock.

This hour-long album' 'Hollywood''  takes Circle fans on a different trip yet again. Back up a few years when Lehtisalo tracked down L.A. musician/producer Bruce Duff via the internet. Duff was the frontman of alternative metal band Jesters of Destiny, who in the mid-to-late 80s were signed to Metal Blade Records. Lehtisalo arranged through Duff to release an expanded version of Jesters of Destiny's album Fun at the Funeral on Ektro. An email friendship followed, and soon enough Circle and Duff were exchanging DVD files across thousands of miles of oceans and began collaborating on recordings. The first music to arise from this joint venture was an EP on Philly-based label No Quarter, entitled Earthworm.

On Tour with ISIS and KEELHAUL

November 28 Incrivel Almadense, Lisbon (PT)
November 29 Teatro Sa Da Bandeira, Porto (PT)
December 1 Rock Star Live, Bilbao (ES)
December 2 BT59, Bordeaux (FR)
December 3 Trabendo, Paris (FR)
December 4 Substage, Karlsruhe (DE)
December 5 Trix, Antwerp (BE)
December 6 Vera, Groningen (NL)
December 7 Postbahnhof, Berlin (DE)