It's the fourth consecutive year in the Top 100 for German duo Cosmic Gate, aka Nic Chagall and Stefan Bossems, and the past 12 months have left the guys excited about the state of trance. "The music really changed a lot," says Nic. "Trance is coming back in a big way - it has never been as interesting as it is right now." For the 'Fire Wire' pairing, this musical shift is reflected in the renewed enthusiasm of trance clubbers. Crowds are thriving on diversity over repetition and the rules are beginning to break down. "Back in 2000, trance DJs would play at 138 – 140bpm," recalls Bossi. "But now we are playing between 129 and 135bpm and there are more diverse styles and influences in our sets. We love how open-minded people have become - it gives us freedom to be creative and build a journey when we DJ." Signed to Black Hole, the pair have notched up a host of high profile gigs this year, including a support set with trance heavyweight Tiësto at Ibiza's Privilege. "It was amazing, definitely our gig of the year," smiles Nic. "In Ibiza, people are always very late coming into the clubs, but we started at 12.15am and by 1am there were over 6000 people in there going absolutely crazy!" With a remix for Deadmau5 forthcoming on Black Hole and their fourth artist album in the latter stages of completion, Cosmic Gate are primed for even bigger things in 2009.