The way metal ought to be

Loud, sludgy and brutal. That about sums up The Sword (Myspace), who played Kings last night with Savannah, Ga., band Kylesa and Wilmington's own Thunderlip. Actually, their Myspace describes them as sounding like "a bunch of bison being pushed over a cliff," which is pretty damn accurate. (Video removed) Unfortunately I missed Thunerlip, who, for some reason, played at 9:30. Kings needs to either start all their shows early, or start them all late. I can't handle this back-and-forth. It seems like every time I go there I either miss one of the bands I want to see, or the band I want to see isn't going to start for another two hours. Kylesa (Myspace) was cool -- a good deal more brutal than The Sword, but with the type of throat-shredding vocals I don't normally go for. But I was really excited to see that they had a female guitarist/vocalist who was totally awesome. Here's their video: (Video removed) See more pics here.