Airscape brings Johan Gielen vs. Virtual Vault’s 2013 “Intensive” back to the dance floor with a 136 BPM Main Floor Trance update that preserves the original’s melodic identity while giving it a cleaner and more contemporary edge. Released through Black Hole Recordings on September 25, 2026, the remix feels less like a reconstruction and more like Johan Gielen reconnecting two chapters of his own Trance history.
A familiar melody brought into 2026
Thirteen years after the original release, “Intensive” returns without abandoning the qualities that made it recognisable in the first place.
Rather than completely rebuilding the track, Airscape keeps its driving Trance character and familiar melodic language at the centre. The modernisation happens around that foundation: the production feels designed for today’s Main Floor Trance environment while the musical identity continues to point unmistakably back toward the original. Black Hole itself describes the remix as balancing nostalgia with a cleaner modern edge.
At 136 BPM, there is plenty of forward momentum without the remix becoming aggressively fast. That gives it an effective position between melodic festival Trance and the harder end of current uplifting material.
Johan Gielen revisits his own history through Airscape
The story behind the remix is arguably as interesting as the update itself.
Johan Gielen originally collaborated with Virtual Vault on “Intensive” in 2013, with Gielen announcing the Black Hole release for April 22 of that year and already listing the track among the records he was playing.
Virtual Vault is the alias of Dutch producer Ben Huijbregts, whose catalogue became associated with energetic and euphoric big-room Trance and included his role as compiler and mixer of In Trance We Trust 15.
Airscape carries even deeper history. The project became one of the defining names associated with Johan Gielen and Sven Maes during Trance’s earlier generations, before Gielen revived Airscape as a solo project in 2009.
That makes this 2026 release an unusual kind of remix: Johan Gielen is effectively looking back at a Johan Gielen record through another established Johan Gielen identity.
Respecting the original rather than replacing it
That relationship explains why the remix does not need to radically reinvent “Intensive”.
The melody remains the anchor. The driving energy remains recognisably Trance. What Airscape adds is a production framework capable of placing those elements naturally inside current sets.
It is a sensible decision. Too many catalogue remixes use the original merely as raw material for whatever sound happens to be fashionable at the time. “Intensive” takes the opposite route: the old record remains visible underneath the new one.
There is genuine evidence of that DJ functionality already. Ahead of release, DJ Phalanx opened his September 15 Uplifting Trance Sessions episode with the Airscape Remix, while the extended version has subsequently appeared in contemporary Trance programming.
TranceAttack verdict
There is something satisfyingly circular about “Intensive (Airscape Remix)”.
Johan Gielen could have handed the 2013 record to a younger producer and commissioned a complete reinterpretation. Instead, he returns to it through Airscape—one of the aliases most closely connected with his own Trance legacy.
The result does not attempt to rewrite history. It refreshes it.
That also defines the remix’s limitation: listeners looking for a dramatic transformation may find it comparatively conservative. The melodic DNA and overall spirit remain deliberately close to the source rather than being turned into something completely unexpected.
But as a modernisation of a record that deserves another run on contemporary dance floors, it is convincing. The production brings “Intensive” forward without stripping away the character that made it worth revisiting.
⭐️ Rating: 9.5 / 10
🎧 Perfect for:
- Classic-meets-modern Trance sets
- Melodic peak-time moments
- 132–138 BPM transitions
- Johan Gielen and Airscape fans
- Late-night main floors
Release details:
Artist: Johan Gielen aka Airscape, Virtual Vault
Track: Intensive (Airscape Remix)
Style: Main Floor Trance
BPM: 136
Label: Black Hole Recordings
Release Date: September 25th, 2026
Get your copy here: https://blackhole.lnk.to/IntensiveRmx
Connect with Johan Gielen:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/johangielenmusic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johangielenmusic/
X: https://www.twitter.com/johan_gielen
Connect with Virtual Vault:
X: https://www.twitter.com/virtualvaultofficial
Connect with Airscape:
X: https://www.twitter.com/airscape
Connect with Black Hole Recordings:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blackholerecordings
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackholerecordings/
X: https://www.twitter.com/blackholerec
