Our selection of royalty-free cinematic music with an emphasis on tension, danger, nerve, and a sense of unease. Sometimes more subtle and sneaky music, other times more overt threatening music and soundtracks for critical situations, this music is made for action thrillers, police operations, stakeouts, spy / undercover agents, dangerous missions, hurricane-chasing and more.
Dramatic and mysterious piano, accompanied by harp and strings. Inspired by soap opera music cliches. [Tempo: Medium / 0 BPM]
Powerful, dramatic orchestral track with a sense of an imminent attack about to happen. Danger, conflict, tension, preparing to go to battle, not knowing what awaits. This film score style track has a cinematic, epic sound, great for action, adventure, thriller type productions. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 110 BPM]
Electronica infused orchestral music. Tension build throughout the piece, ending with a big boom, but retaining a somewhat anticipative aura. Good for war preparation, rendezvous scenes and crime investigation and chase. [Tempo: Medium / 120 BPM]
Adventurous orchestral percussion score takes you flying over vast landscapes. An orchestral underscore piece with a military styled theme. Serious, intense mood good for productions involving war, battles, plotting, planning, strategy, historical etc. [Tempo: Slow / 0 BPM]
Massive, pounding percussion with the rattle of chains. A mechanical, unnatural sound... all this and a bed of disturbing atmospheric layers makes this one heck of a scary track. Perfect for halloween, haunted houses and horror films. [Tempo: Slow / 119 BPM]
Horror Mystery Soundtrack. Sickly / Underworld / Twisted Voices / Plague / Cold. [Tempo: Slow / 0 BPM]
Percussion only track / Battle drums. Tracks with Drums only are useful for action sequences, fight scenes, war and battles, macho sports and exertion, powerful imagery, dramatic trailers and more. Also available as seamlessly looping Drum loops / Percussion loops. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 75 BPM]
A red sun rises on a desolate, war torn city in the middle east. A soldier looks out over the smoke clouds and wonders if the end justifies the means. Epic in scope, yet full of space, would be perfect for travel documentaries requiring a moody atmosphere. Also great for understated, brooding trailers and promos. Orchestra, ethnic instruments (duduk), large percussion and atmospheric pads. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 83 BPM]
Suitable for modern thrillers, this track features atmospheric and tense layers, orchestra, drums and synth. The tension mounts, with the drama intensifying towards the climactic ending. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 84 BPM]
Slightly dark, eerie & sinister electronic rock track with great atmosphere, forward drive & spacey textures. A mixture of synths, drum machines, acoustic drums, strings and guitar. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 119 BPM]
A Percussion Only track, with big pounding drums in various more and less intense patterns. Useful for sound design, film scoring, games and more. [Tempo: Medium, Fast, Very fast / 150 BPM]
Mystery or investigation underscore track. Spatial and transparent in sound. Good for science, analysis, forensics, crime investigation, information technology, biology, chemistry, medicine, info-tech, investigative journalism. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 110 BPM]
A medium intensity underscore track for film or TV drama. A sense of mystery and passing time. Perhaps crime investigation, mysterious discoveries or waiting anxiously for the next development. Pensive, with a understated, slow rhythm. [Tempo: Slow / 78 BPM]
A desolate landscape, something mysterious and sinister whistles in the chilling wind. It makes it's way closer and closer; slowly but surely. A sense of inevitability, perfect for a subtle touch in tense scenes, horror, or right before an action scene. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 121 BPM]
A pulsing synthesizer sets the tone for a dark atmosphere in the beginning. Drums with a hint of bit-crushed distortion build up and then quiet down before a massive drop. The main drop hits with a huge impact of drums and low bass. Layered in electronic melody gives the track a modern and edgy feel, but keeps a serious tone. Resembles "Tron Legacy" soundtrack. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 70 BPM]
A dark, orchestral trailer track with a serious, brooding and war-like character. Starts with an eerie "calm before the storm" feel and gradually builds into an epic and intense finale. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 120 BPM]
A slow and dramatic hybrid orchestral track that brings to mind struggle, confrontation, battles, war and the fallen soldiers. Reflecting and dwelling on past events. Heavy drums, electronic elements, pulsating strings and slow somber brass. [Tempo: Slow / 108 BPM]
Dark ambient, Horror underscore. Dizzy / Sickly / Uneasy. Rhythmic pulse. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 65 BPM]
Slow washes of nervous strings with mysterious harp. Pensive, sinister, apprehensive. Sneaking, waiting. Dramatic underscore that provides nerve and tension to film, crime, investigation, stakeout, horror or dark mystery. Solo violin enters later. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 0 BPM]
Classic dramatic Western style theme. Long shadows over Rio Grande. A hanging at dawn. A lone horseman riding into the sunset. A Mexican woman in distress. Shootout at the O.K. Corral. You get the idea. :) Very cinematic - Great stuff for Westerns, similar to soundtracks by Ennio Morricone. [Tempo: Medium / 75 BPM]
Synth and orchestra, in the style of modern thrillers like the Bourne movies. The music keeps the suspense going yet doesn't get big or overly busy. Perfect under dialog. Perhaps someone is being followed, without their knowledge. Things are quiet now, but conflict looms ahead. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 87 BPM]
A modern sounding trailer style epic dramatic action music track, blending glitchy style digital synths and electronic drum loops with traditional orchestral scoring parts. Great for big blockbuster action films, sci fi, adventure and trailers. [Tempo: Medium / 105 BPM]
A dark, ominous and dramatic film underscore music using a combination of electronic and orchestral elements. This track starts out sneaky and foreboding with staccato synth pattern and grows over time, gradually building up the intensity towards a climax at about 1:26. An element of mystery, conspiracy and intrigue. A very serious tone which sets the scene for crime, thriller, spy movie/game etc. [Tempo: Slow / 155 BPM]
A Percussion Only track, with big pounding drums in various more and less intense patterns. Useful for sound design, film scoring, games and more. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 150 BPM]
Beginning with a dark and eerie bass drone filled with suspense and intrigue and accompanied by old west style guitar licks, this down-tempo trip hop trickle evolves into a full scale torrent of aggressive, slamming rock guitar driven mayhem. Ideal for gaming - especially cut scenes - but also great for use in extreme sports and advertising. The tension rises... this can only end one way! [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 58 BPM]
Eerie, tense, percussive soundscape with a relentless spooky melody, dark metalic FX and flute sweeps. Atmospheric with a sense of suspense and imminent danger. Menacing and sinister. 48 hours, The Mentalist, Castle, Alien Invasion, crime drama, horror, Sci-Fi. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 105 BPM]
Urgent and dramatic electro underscore. Powerful yet unobtrusive. [Tempo: Medium / 120 BPM]
Ominous thriller underscore. Piano theme joined by slowly rising strings and a low level rhythmic pulse. Subtle but serious -- suitable for political drama or thriller, law, action, crime or mystery. A sense of tragedy or serious consequences. [Tempo: Medium / 94 BPM]
Deep percussions and synths build a dark and intense atmosphere with a sense of suspense and drama. Great track for underscore dramatic situations. An amazing fusion of distorted guotar lines , percussions and strings. [Tempo: Slow, Fast, Very fast / 140 BPM]
Sneaky, suspicious, ambient track with a sense of future, sci-fi, space. Could be good for a scene of exploring a dangerous place, abandoned spaceship or warehouse, strange alien planet, etc. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 47 BPM]
Suspense soaked riff rocker which uses simple berimbau lines, clean atmospheric guitars and great big dirty guitars. Great repeated build and release. The last time has a soaring lead guitar solo. In parts, slightly reminiscent of Failure and even Nirvana. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 92 BPM]
Intense drama themed piece that uses driving percussion and urgent strings to full effect. It relentlessly builds to a dramatic conclusion.
[Tempo: Medium, Fast / 130 BPM]Fast and urgent orchestral action music, coloured with electronic drums. Great for actions and thrillers. A sense of pressure is very prominent, with pounding brass, stabbing strings and thunderous percussion. [Tempo: Fast / 160 BPM]
A mixture of electronic synths, percussion and strings are used to generate a sense of risk. The constant pulse throughout adds to the anxiety, making this ideal for game shows with elimination rounds. [Tempo: Slow / 63 BPM]
A dark, edgy and suspenseful music track featuring epic percussion ensemble, strings and brass. Suitable for tension building and dramatic events. Brooding / Ominous music / Urgent / Threat. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 90 BPM]
A suspenseful and intense cue which creates an ominous, threatening and foreboding feeling. Distorted guitars, piano and electronic elements all come together to create a tense and apocalyptic sound. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 120 BPM]
Pattern based 20th Century minimalist music. Surreal, Rhythmic, Underscore, Tension. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 132 BPM]
A darkly ambient and suspenseful music track made with various orchestral and acoustic instruments. Soundtrack / Eerie / Mystical Music. [Tempo: Slow / 50 BPM]
Pulsating low bass, rhythmic low percussion toms. Merging the aesthetics of tension with trailer music elements. Conveys a sense of threat, uncertainty, and horror. Suitable for dystopian sci-fi, action thrillers, crime dramas, spy / undercover agent, military operations or horror movie trailers. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Medium / 100 BPM]
A dark, brooding underscore for mystery and tension. Sci-fi / Futuristic; can also be desert / wasteland, abandoned warehouse or other location. Doom laden, cold, desolate. Threatening / uneasy. There is also a "No Drums" version which works well as a dark ambient background track. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 90 BPM]
A rhythmic, dark, orchestral track of amazement and tension. Similar to the style/sound of Hans Zimmer music, this cinematic piece has a strong sense of nerve and drama.
[Tempo: Medium / 100 BPM]A orchestral hybrid royalty free music cue, the use of 70's / 80's synths in combination with the common orchestra, this piece has a modern Sci-Fi feel with an A-list Hollywood production. The use of orchestral hits throughout this cue gives momentum and pace to any scene, as the piece concludes it ranges in dynamics to give the most dramatic end. Dramatic / Tension / Apocalypse Music. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 120 BPM]
A tense atmosphere with lots of percussion, space and crescendo with synths and drones [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 90 BPM]
A sneaky and creepy semi-orchestral soundtrack piece. Twitchy and nervous strings, scattered piano notes, metal clanks, subtle pulsating rhythms. Suitable for horror/scifi as well as for documentary, forensics, murder investigation etc. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 96 BPM]
This track is a high Intensity action / chase cue with a primal, menacing tone. It's full of suspense and works well for footage of battles, war scenes, chases, and beasts. It's also well suited for video games and builds into a riser at the end that has a cinematic impact great for film trailers. Apocalypto meets Jurassic Park. [Tempo: Fast / 125 BPM]
Orchestra, piano, choir and drums suggest a foreboding realization. Ominous and haunting. [Tempo: Slow / 100 BPM]
An epic dark medieval fantasy music with a unique ensemble of authentic medieval instruments and drums and hypnotic throat singing. This track captures a spirit of adventure and the fight to survive. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 120 BPM]
A dark, ambient track that showcases atmospheric synths and a short but intense percussion build at the end. For horror films or thrillers. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 67 BPM]
Action oriented hybrid orchestral track, with a lot of metallic percussion and powerful blasts. Starts off with distorted electronic percussion and mystery strings, then develops into a powerful tense motif. Good for spy, military, invasion and high octane action. [Tempo: Medium / 110 BPM]
This frightening music bed has apocalyptic overtones and would be well suited for, horror, thriller, or fantasy footgae about paranormal and occult subject matter as well as video-games and trailers. Its suggests something evil lurking, and makes for a nice tension builder that features an intense, climactic riser. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 0 BPM]
