2026 Mid-Year Top Ten

The first half of 2026 is already in the books! Last year I completely forgot to do my mid-year Top Ten so this year I made sure not to overlook the halfway mark on my calendar. The first six months of the year have been pretty good musically but I didn’t find as many must-have albums as I did the previous years. Make no mistake, the albums on this list are absolutely stellar, it’s just that there was less of a big pool to pick from for me. You might feel differently, mileage may vary. Maybe it’s because I’m becoming more and more jaded in my old age? Anyhow, since I love doing Top Ten lists, I always find a Mid-Year Top Ten is a great way to see where we’re at. Basically, these are the ten albums that I keep going back to the most often. Some will graduate to my final Top Ten Albums of the Year list come December. Each album listed features a link to its respective Harbinger’s Killer Picks article.

10. Total Maniac - Love Overdrive

9. Ural - Anthropic Genetic Involution

8. WMD - Against All Warnings

7. Tailgunner - Midnight Blitz

6. Megadeth – Megadeth

5. Clawfinger - Before We All Die

4. Angine de poitrine - Vol. II

3. Metal Church - Dead to Rights

2. Karcius - Black Soul Sickness

1. VOIVOD - Symphonique

And there you have it! What are your favourite records of the year thus far? Hopefully my list will make you discover an album you’d overlooked or that you hadn’t heard about. Enjoy the music and I’ll see you next week for a special surprise article! 

VOIVOD Symphonique

Greetings fellow metalheads! As promised, I’m making a special post today to celebrate the release of Jonquière, Québec prog metal legends VOIVOD’s phenomenal new live release yesterday on June 5^th of VOIVOD Symphonique. What’s even more special for me is that I was at this show here at the Grand Théâtre in Québec almost exactly a year ago to the day (June 4^th, 2025) and it was nothing short of magical. We find the band playing with the Québec Symphony Orchestra under the direction of conductor Dina Gilbert. They’d performed two symphonic shows prior to the one in Québec a few months earlier in Montreal with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (also conducted by Dina Gilbert) at Place des Arts. I was over the moon when it was announced that VOIVOD would do one symphonic show in Québec and that they’d record it for a future LP release. Fast forward a year later and that LP is finally here on CD, vinyl, and digital formats.

The concert features an eclectic set of twelve songs for a runtime of 73 minutes. The songs have been hand-picked for the occasion and one couldn’t ask for a better setlist to be accompanied by a large-scale orchestra of violins, cellos, contrabass, flutes, clarinets, bassoons, oboes, trumpets, trombones, tuba, percussion, and organ, among others. The songs flow into one another and it feels like you’re listening to a cinematic sci-fi play for the mind. From lesser-played songs like “Experiment” and “Forgotten in Space” to classics like “The Unknown Knows” and “Nuclear War” to cap things off with an astounding rendition of Pink Floyd’s “Astronomy Domine”, VOIVOD Symphonique is a must-have record for fans of the band, prog metal, and metal in general. It captures the band still going strong after over four decades and at the height of their powers. It’s a memorable show and I, for one, am extremely thankful that they decided to immortalize this unique performance. It’s a perfect album to listen to on warm summer nights while staring at the stars.

Century Media Records’ Bandcamp page for VOIVOD