For a sizeable chunk of the world, Europe will probably always be the band responsible for “The Final Countdown”. Write a song that enormous and, nearly forty years later, those opening keyboards are still going to follow you around like an albatross around your neck.

The thing is, Europe moved on a long time ago.

Anyone who has followed the Swedish rockers since their reunion will know that the modern-day Europe are a much heavier and darker proposition than the polished MTV version remembered and loved from the 1980s. On their twelfth studio album, Come This Madness, they manage to bring those two sides of the band together remarkably well.

Arriving nine years after 2017’s Walk the Earth, the album finds Joey Tempest, John Norum, John Levén, Mic Michaeli and Ian Haugland sounding revitalised. There are flashes of classic Europe throughout, but this certainly isn’t five blokes attempting to recreate 1986. Instead, they sound like they’ve got something to prove.

Album opener “One on One” gets straight down to business. John Norum’s guitar has real gravitas behind it, while Joey Tempest provides the melody that immediately identifies this as Europe. And when Norum is eventually allowed off the leash, it doesn’t take long to remember just how formidable a guitarist he remains.

“The Cult of Ignorance” drives things further. Guitars and keyboards work alongside each other rather than competing for attention, combining the band’s old melodic instincts with the tougher sound Europe have developed since reforming. There’s a big chorus waiting to grab you, but plenty of muscle surrounding it.

Then we reach “Come This Madness” itself.

The vibe running through the title track is that Europe are looking at a fractured and increasingly chaotic world and questioning what is happening around them. Importantly, though, the message never overwhelms the music. This remains a big hard-rock song, driven by groove, riffs and a chorus that should sound enormous when thousands of people are singing it back at the band.

Things change considerably with “This Time of Year”.

Europe have never exactly struggled when it comes to writing ballads, and Joey Tempest remains perfectly suited to them. Here, the piano-led arrangement initially gives his voice plenty of space before the rest of the band gradually builds around him. John Norum could easily have gone for the spectacular, but his contribution is restrained enough to complement the song rather than overpower it.

After “In a Different World” brings back some of the heavier guitar work, “Scandinavian Eyes” emerges as one of the record’s highlights.

There’s an unmistakable ’70s hard-rock flavour running through parts of it, particularly in the relationship between Michaeli’s keyboards and Norum’s guitar. The important difference is that Europe never sound as though they’re simply copying their influences, and Tom Dalgety’s production gives everything enough modern punch to prevent the record turning into a nostalgia trip. That balance runs throughout the album.

Europe aren’t attempting to erase their ’80s history, but neither are they trying to live in it. Classic hard rock, blues, metal, huge keyboards and even bigger melodies are all thrown together, while some genuinely hefty riffs give the album its teeth.

“Takin’ It Back” is a perfect demonstration of that approach.

There’s real urgency to the performance. Tempest sounds fired up, Norum attacks the song with similar aggression, and it has all the ingredients to become an absolute beast when played live.

The brief “In the Absence of Grace” then pulls everything back. Running for less than two minutes, it feels less like a conventional standalone song and more like an atmospheric pause before the final assault begins in the form of “The Angels Must Have Flown”. It has plenty of power, but “The Devil’s Back” takes things another step heavier. The central riff hits hard, Levén and Haugland drive the song from underneath, and Europe drop one of those instantly memorable choruses over the top.

Throughout all of this, Mic Michaeli deserves particular credit. Keyboards might be permanently associated with Europe because of one rather famous song, but they aren’t being used here as some cheap shortcut back to the 1980s. Michaeli uses piano, organ and synthesisers to shape the songs, sometimes sitting behind the guitar and at other times becoming an essential part of the arrangement.

John Levén and Ian Haugland are equally important. Neither needs to dominate proceedings; they provide the formidable rhythm section that allows everyone else to do their thing.

But John Norum regularly threatens to walk away with the entire record, as his guitar work is outstanding.

Rather than being restricted to a predictable thirty-second solo between choruses, Norum gets space. Sometimes he’s bluesy, elsewhere melodic, and when required he can make the guitar sound downright nasty. His playing frequently feels like another lead voice alongside Tempest.

Closing track “Nothing Can Follow This” gives the album the substantial ending it deserves. Europe resist the temptation to simply finish with another quick rocker. Instead, the song helps give Come This Madness the feeling of a complete album with a beginning, middle and end.

Europe could quite comfortably spend the rest of their career touring their greatest hits. There’s certainly no shortage of people willing to hear them, but that clearly isn’t enough for them.

What makes Come This Madness work is that Europe understand where they’ve come from without allowing their history to dictate where they go next. They don’t need to write another “The Final Countdown”, as their melodies remain enormous, Mic Michaeli’s keyboards are unmistakable, Joey Tempest still possesses the voice to fill an arena and John Norum remains a phenomenal guitarist.

Almost four decades after Europe became global rock stars, Come This Madness doesn’t spend its time reminding you what a great band Europe once were; it showcases what a bloody good band they still are.