Sometimes a song doesn’t just sound heavy — it feels heavy, like the weight of its riffs and words is pressing down on your chest. That’s exactly the sensation you get when you put on “Dark Days”, the latest single from Canberra’s own pop-metal disruptor, Machine on a Break. Part confession, part battle cry, this track fuses pounding double-kick drums, serrated drop-tuned guitars, and unsettling synths into a piece of music that sounds as brooding as the story behind it.

Machine on a Break (aka the neurodivergent gamer girl making waves on the Aussie alt-scene) doesn’t just write songs — she weaponizes them. “Dark Days” is born of lived experience: her struggles with mental health, isolation, and the grit of survival. But what could’ve been a wallowing, self-indulgent dirge is instead spun into something cathartic. She makes space for pain but also for solidarity.

Lyrically, she’s disarmingly direct — no sugarcoating, no vague metaphors. It’s a rawness that hits harder than the guitars, precisely because it feels real. And then there’s the delivery: she sings with a grit that flips from vulnerable to venomous in a heartbeat, a duality that gives “Dark Days” its unpredictable punch.

Musically, the production is a tightrope walk between menace and melody. Those eerie synth layers creep in like the shadows at the back of your mind, while the guitars and drums hit with precision — brutal, yes, but never messy. It’s metalcore-adjacent without fully abandoning its rock sensibility, which makes the song accessible to both heavy music diehards and casual listeners looking for something with bite. You can almost picture this one ripping through a live set, the crowd caught between headbanging and chanting along.

And live, Machine on a Break has the credentials to back it up. 2025 has been her glow-up year — from Grand Finalist in the Listen Up Songwriting Prize, to pre-show entertainment at Sydney Olympic Park for both Parkway Drive fans and Comic Con crowds, to supporting Patient Sixty-Seven, Atticus Chimps, and even prepping for a slot with I See Stars. That trajectory screams momentum, and “Dark Days” feels like the kind of track that could take her from “local cult favorite” to “next big name in Aussie alt-metal.”

But what makes this release really stand out isn’t just the heaviness — it’s the intent. Machine on a Break isn’t afraid to make vulnerability the star of a metal track, and in doing so she flips the genre’s machismo on its head. It’s as much a lifeline as it is a headbanger, music that insists survival and community are just as metal as brutality and rage.

In short: “Dark Days” is dark, yes — but it’s also alive, defiant, and deeply human. Put it on when you’re struggling. Put it on when you’re angry. Put it on when you need proof that even in the heaviest riffs, there’s a hand reaching out for you.

“Dark Days” is available now on all major streaming platforms

Listen to Machine on a Break and other similar artists on our Spotify Playlist ‘New Music Spotlight - Rock, Punk & Metal’

“Dark Days” - Machine on a Break

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