GRAND DOPE MAFIA

Beat Magazine Melbourne

On paper, Brisbane based act Bolus don’t sound all that enticing. Fusing together elements of Hard Rock, Metal, Groove, Funk and Hardcore Rap my initial thought was that Bolus are either a band that failed to notice that their chosen sound is neither new nor all that current in todays scene.
But after listening to their latest effort ‘Sonic Schematics’, follow up to their 2002 release ‘Mechanoid Vocation’ its quite evident that Bolus present an entirely fresh spin on the whole rap/metal sound.
The opening track ‘ Post Shop’, see’s Guitarist Robert Marchitto, bassist Damien Burge and Drummer Radovan Matic lock into an unmistakable Rage Against the Machine style groove, but it’s vocalist Adam Douglass’ unique blend of everything under the sun ( with a solid lean towards the hip hop side of things) out the front that really gives Bolus a sound unlike anything else.
The more rock sounding influenced pair of ‘Burn and No Scrubba’ and ‘No trusta ya fake arse’, are noteworthy tracks with choruses that get progressively heavier and really stand out, while the picks of the 9 track album comes in the Kyuss/Queens of the Stone age sounding ‘Residual’ and ‘Carbonized Mind Dreadnaught’, both of which bleed pure energy, enthusiasm and attitude.
The relatively short ‘ Common Regalia’ and ‘Pourin Out Leaded’, draw a little more of the bands funky edge within the heavy rock mould, while ‘Back Alley Rally’ and ‘Unembryonic’ boast a hybrid of all the mentioned above genres to some extent, with choruses every bit as catchy as the rest of the album.
The rap/rock genre might have been a fad that has well and truly had its day, but with ‘Sonic Schematics’, Bolus manage to dodge the standard clichés of the past and come up with something unique, interesting and definitely rocking.

By JUSTIN DONELLY
- BEAT MAGAZINE ,MELBOURNE

Brisbane rockers Bolus have delivered a great hard rockin album of funk and groove with plenty of hip hop styling. With a full fat rock sound, they integrate intricate riffs, producing several layers of sound with every track. Their somgs are a tight blend of styles and if you were going to categorise them, just mix 28 days with Clutch and Rage against the Machine and you have something close to what you hear on this album. The strong funk bass lines compliment the heavy guitar extremely well. The track ‘Residual’ will get the blood pumping with its unrelenting licks and riffs while ‘Unembryonic’ finishes the album with a chunky riff and plenty of tonal distortion.

By Mark jr
- AUSTRALIAN GUITAR MAGAZINE 2007

While elements comes from as far as a feild as Cypress Hill to extream hard rock. Sylish deck work blending with heavy bass driven grooves under textural guitars and thundering skins invoke sonic atmospheres not totally dissimilar to monsters such as Zeni Gever and Tool. - RAVE MAGAINE-BRISBANE

The Dwarf.com.au

Bolus are an unsigned four piece hip-hop rock metal group rising from Brisbane Australia, with Robert Marchitto and Damien Burge delivering the cracking guitar and bass riffs, Radovan Matic showing awesome skill on the drums and Adam Douglass on vocals and working in some turntable cuts.
'Sonic Schematics' is a follow up to their 2002 debut EP 'Mechaniod Vocation', which was generally well received into the underground scene. This latest release from the boys show cases their evolution from a band capable of rocking the local pub, to a credible group more than capable of selling records. Sonic Schematics offers smoother vocals and an overall more polished sound which the band developed from nearly three years of touring.
Having never heard any previous material from Bolus before now I was skeptical about an outfit that describes its sound as a cross between Kyuss crossed Tool crossed cypress hill, however this changed as soon as I listened to this album for the first time. The cracking guitar riffs, scorching hip hop vocals and some nicely blended work on the turntables creates a strong likeness to musical giants such as Rage Against The Machine and Public Enemy with some evident metal influences thrown in.
Bolus do not follow in the footsteps of many bands and become carbon copies of their influences. They refuse to fall into any particular style or genre of music they are a unique compilation of many musical elements which in my opinion they manage to pull off extremely well, delivering an excellent album which is strong from beginning to end.

By Caq21
- The Dwarf.com.aU

Debut 8 track EP "Mechaniod Vocation" is a tasty blend of Rock,metal and smart hip-hop, managing to aviod many of the cliche hazards these geners have to offer-KERRANG MAGAZINE-2002

- KERANG MAGAINE