Italy's Graveworm have been churning out symphonic black metal albums for some 17 years now, with their "lucky" seventh full-length, Diabolical Figures, arriving like clockwork in the fall of 2009.

And it must be said that the only major novelty at hand was the band's transfer from the Massacre label to the suddenly metal-friendly confines of Koch/E1, because the band's six-person lineup has remained intact for some time now, and the singular ferocity with which Graveworm propel their songs persists unabated, leaving only the increasingly paucity of once dominant goth metal tendencies to foment discord among their fan base.

Blastbeat-driven numbers like "Vengeance Is Sworn" and "Hell's Creation" burst out of the belfry like bats out of hell, and thus provide precious few footholds for synth orchestrator Sabine Mair to layer her parts into.

Even when she does get her chance to make a mark on the album's slower, more spacious compositions (see the title track, "Forlorn Hope," etc.), one must admit that these strictly synthetic symphonics sound a little, well, cheap.

Mind you, it's all still technically impressive enough, but the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra it is not.

And with the exception of the album's astonishing wild card, an apocalyptic cover of the Police's "Message in a Bottle," the harsh reality is that Graveworm's latest is neither groundbreaking nor all that surprising -- just competently executed.