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.
An intense orchestral piece. Dark and ominous choral sounds combine with heavy brass, strings, and percussion to create a dark and nerve wracking overall vibe. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 82 BPM]
Begins with a hypnotic synth bass hook and drum hook. As electric piano comes in, it slowly builds and eventually flowers into a lovely mellow pop chorus. Once the beat gets to you, it is mesmerizing. [Tempo: Medium / 160 BPM]
A simple underscore featuring a string ostinato that builds tension and suspense under a scene. A worldly flute melody provides a colorful, mysterious "crimes and investigation" type feeling. [Tempo: Medium / 110 BPM]
Ambient / Electronica / Film score. Forward motion with Orchestral drum. Lingering. Pensive. Suspicious. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 100 BPM]
A dark solo piano piece that has an underlying feeling of menace, danger and horror. Piano sounds like a beating heart at the end as the suspense grows but resolves. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 0 BPM]
A Percussion Only track, with marching snares, military march. Occasional big drum strikes. Pensive, Dark, Threatening, Tension. [Tempo: Slow / 117 BPM]
Mysterious and exciting score track with a modern sound featuring piano, synths and strings. Good for mystery, thriller and suspenseful action movies. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 115 BPM]
Cinematic Action music track great for crime and investigation programs, news, documentaries, also for films, TV series and action trailers evolving around Police, FBI and CIA. Featuring orchestral strings and woodwinds, synthesizers, keyboards and contemporary drum beat. [Tempo: Slow / 114 BPM]
Nervous soundtrack underscore for a classic western style duel. A mysterious lone ranger rides into town, will there be another shootout at the OK Corral? Interspersed with occasional mexican flavors. [Tempo: Slow / 70 BPM]
Predators are closing in, tension builds, an attempted escape, a chase. This is an fully orchestral cinematic score of underlying horror and suspense that builds up. Key of D, 120 bpm. [Tempo: Slow / 57 BPM]
Disturbing and dramatic piece uses all new sounds and textures. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 112 BPM]
Music for a showdown at high noon. Begins tense and sparse, building in energy through several stages as the gunfighters size each other up, it finally ends with a climax as a gun fires and one of the men falls. [Tempo: Slow / 87 BPM]
Driving string ostinatos begin this tension filled track, featuring cool synth lines, ambient pads, piano, and grooving drum beats. Good for an adventurous reality game show or an action packed thriller. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 86 BPM]
A dark, foreboding choir and plaintive harp suddenly explode into a torrent of sound that spirals through distortion before returning to the choir and harp once again for the final bars. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 110 BPM]
Suspicious / Foreboding cinematic soundtrack. Perhaps a crime in progress, or dangerous situation. Tense, with Tom-Tom drums adding to the nerve. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 104 BPM]
Orchestral tension, movie soundtrack underscore. Tension, disturbing, anxious. [Tempo: Medium, Slow / 115 BPM]
Pensive, percussive track with World / Ethnic undertones. Good for adventure, peril, expeditions and mystery. Travel show, documentary / history / geography / mythology etc. World heritage, with an element of danger and nerve. [Tempo: Medium / 110 BPM]
Epic huge drums with evolving digital blips and blops, glissando brass-like sounds joins at 0:47. Danger / Tension / Threat / Futuristic. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 130 BPM]
A haunting and eerie yet strangely beautiful track that starts out with a processed glockenspiel leading to electronic drums, bass, pads, tubular bells and various fx before ending with a soaring, passionate guitar solo. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 50 BPM]
A creepy piece that starts off with a slow piano, builds as low strings makes it's way. Perfect for a scene where somebody is walking alone in the woods, hunted by a killer, or having a mental breakdown. Could also imagine a lone man, driving through a desolate city. [Tempo: Slow / 60 BPM]
A Percussion Only track, with marching snares, military march. Occasional big drum strikes. Useful for scenes of battle, chase, urgency, action. [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast / 160 BPM]
Orchestra and percussion accompany bassoon playing a very mysterious, almost seductive melody. Perhaps someone is making a deal with a shadowy character who has a dark and sinister plan. [Tempo: Slow / 67 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]
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 / 0 BPM]
This is a dark and claustrophobic adventure that’s soon to come to a bloody ending. Transparent piano harmonies accompany a mellow, yet terrifying string melody, building up to an unfortunate ending. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 60 BPM]
Driving Score track with e-guitars, effects and heavy drum/percussion sounds. Edgy, menacing and aggressive. Good for action, pursuits and thrilling fight scenes. [Tempo: Slow / 120 BPM]
It's night time in a large modern city. An agent attempts to infiltrate a heavily secured hi tech facility. Starts small and gets huge towards the end. Soaring choir and orchestra along with interesting synth layers and drums. For modern suspenseful films and TV, and trailers and promos. [Tempo: Medium / 97 BPM]
Thrilling chase feel, orchestral with electronic elements and guitars. Powerful, dark, busy, fast, tense and cold with a slight industrial edge. [Tempo: Fast / 132 BPM]
Slow spacey rocker. starts slow and sleazy and gains in intensity And emotion as it progresses. Lots of cool guitar licks and lush sounds. Think Jeff Beck meets satriani at Steve Lukather's barbecue. Contains guitars, bass , drums and keyboards. [Tempo: Slow / 117 BPM]
A dark, grand orchestral climax, dominated by brass and strings. Great to use in a horror scene where the bad guy gets killed, as there is a hint of victory about it, left with a question mark with the tracks abrupt end. Also good for dramatic scenes of emergency, rescue, fire and real-life dangerous situations etc. The track 'takes off' at about 45 seconds in. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 0 BPM]
Sinister, disturbing track full of malevolence and high tension. Trancey bass and drums begin to creep towards you with evil intent... [Tempo: Fast / 124 BPM]
Not for the faint-hearted! Menacing Score track with powerful drums and diverse aggressive, distorted sounds. Evil, scary and very dark. [Tempo: Slow, Fast / 120 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]
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]
Ambient, semi-orchestral track with suspended strings and deep percussion hits. This tense music cue has a sense of historic drama, lurking danger, impending tragedy, conflict and betrayal as war plots being brewed. Highly suitable as a soundtrack for historical documentary, drama, as medieval/fantasy material, be it films, fantasy games, TV specials or other installations. Easy loopable and editable. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 0 BPM]
A dark, unsettling cinematic backdrop. Uneasy / Gloomy / Mysterious. [Tempo: Slow / 94 BPM]
A dark, suspenseful track for horror and grisly scenes - made with dark, edgy, violent sound design and epic drums. [Tempo: Slow / 65 BPM]
Dark, grand, glorious, glorifying soundtrack piece. Rising up, epic, dominant, malevolent. Low choir voices. Pounding rhythm. Staccato brass stabs. Powerful, determined. [Tempo: Medium / 100 BPM]
A dark and tension building cue, with a sense of urgency and imminent danger. Like a stalker on the trail of his prey. [Tempo: Medium / 101 BPM]
A glimpse into the twisted mental circuits of an alien robot killer on the prowl. Synth pads, noises and basslines overlay an edgy drum groove to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand-up. In space no one can hear you beg for mercy. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 130 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]
Big, powerful and epic music track made with big orchestra, epic choir and drums. Two parts, ending with big hit, suitable for trailers. Dramatic / Epic / Orchestral Music. [Tempo: Medium / 150 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]
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 / 150 BPM]
A lumbering and hypnotically simple riff-laden tune. The slow, doomy beat slowly creeps towards you with evil intent as strings, Leslie guitars and synths colour the track. Contains guitars, bass, drums and strings. [Tempo: Slow / 80 BPM]
Fast rhythmic tempo. Low, propulsive bass. Looping sequences. Suitable for scenes depicting escape, dynamic pursuits, crime in progress. Stress, chase, action, time running out. Ideal for police operations / Special Ops, crime thriller or mystery, where the need is to convey fast-paced action. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Fast, Very fast / 150 BPM]
A pensive and mystical, semi-orchestral music track with staccato strings and a sense of tension building. Dramatic / Thriller / Crime Music. [Tempo: Medium / 80 BPM]
Pulsating, monotonous bass. Occasional repetitive piano melody. Minimal percussion, building sound effects. Evokes a sense of menace, mystery, uncertainty and tension. Suitable for dramatic films, spies and undercover agents, criminals / crime in progress and stakeout operations. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 77 BPM]
A cold, tense, lonely and mysterious sounding track with sparse synth pads, white noise and a kick drum that represents a heart beating. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 50 BPM]
Dark ambient, Horror underscore. Mysterious / Creepy / Echoey / Haunting [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 80 BPM]
