2024 Metal Academy Awards Discussion - The Infinite Edition

It's that time of year again i.e. the time when we start to think about which releases will be crowned as the pinnacle of their clans for the previous calendar year. I've opened this thread to house the discussions around our The Infinite Clan Release of the 2024.

These are the 2024 releases that have gained the most attention from our members:

Alcest - "Les chants de l’aurore"

Hoplites - "Παραμαινομένη"

Æthĕrĭa Conscĭentĭa - "The Blossoming"

Cave Sermon - "Divine Laughter"

Blood Incantation - "Absolute Elsewhere"

What other releases should our members be checking out?

Oranssi Pazuzu's "Muuntautuja", tagged as avant-garde metal, is my obvious answer here. I haven't rated anything else that would qualify for The Infinite I don't think.

The Infinite was saved in the eleventh hour from having a very underwhelming 2024 with the newest albums from Thy Catafalque (A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek) and Klone (The Unseen). 

Otherwise, Anciients' Beyond the Reach of the Sun and Dvne's Voidkind were great releases by "newer" groups, while old guard like Ihsahn and Caligula's Horse returned with solid returns-to-form as well.

Of those that I've rated, the Ætheria Conscientia record is the current leader but I'd suggest that the Hemotoxin album should be in The Infinite & would place it slightly ahead of "The Blossoming". There are a fair few releases that I've given casual attention to & intend on giving a full investigation in January though with the Blood Incantation, Oranssi Pazuzu, Orgone, Frail Body & Hoplites records all appearing on that list.