Canada, you have done it again. A very pleasant discovery of mine recently was Black Hat Brigade. Five young men from Toronto making very exciting music. Very exciting. They formed in 2007 and in December of that year they recorded their first EP in Toronto, under the watch of Ryan Mills. The EP was released in 2008 and is available from their Myspace. It is five songs of pounding rhythms, thrusting guitars and singalong choruses. The songs combine great drumming, stand up vocals and soaring keyboards for a delicious mix. The opening two tracks are very good, but it is "Limbo" that we get a feeling that we could be hearing something special. Its opening guitar line will stay in your memory for quite a while. Then the closing two tracks will knock you out. Completely. "Pictorial History" is an instrumental of epic beauty, which bleeds into the closer "Swords", a truly great song that builds and builds before exploding into the atmosphere. This band is definitely one to keep an eye on in 2009.

MP3: Swords-Black Hat Brigade

The band have very kindly given me two copies of the EP to give away to two lucky readers. Just answer this simple question to my email-oceansneverlisten@gmail.com.
What was the name of my favourite album of 2008?

UPDATE: I have two correct answers and two lucky winners.