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 and imposing orchestral cinematic score with a classic movie soundtrack style. Mystery and tension soon gives way to all-out dramatic action, with urgency, chaos and turmoil, with blaring horns, pounding orchestral drums and rapid, turbulent woodwinds. The final section of the track features a more heroic conclusion. This track is great if you're going for the sound of the golden age of action and drama movies. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 95 BPM]
- 01 Percussion
- 02 Double Bass
- 03 Intro Strings
- 04 Intro Cello Tremolo
- 05 Intro Strings Spiccato
- 06 Main Brass
- 07 Back Horns
- 08 Left Trumpet
- 09 Right Trumpet
- 10 Staccato Trumpet
- 11 Woodwinds
- 12 Woodwind Solo
- 13 Synth
- 14 End Piano
- 15 End Bass Horn
- 16 End Right Brass
- 17 End Staccato Horn Left
- 18 End Trumpet Staccato
- 19 End Strings
Methodical pulsating bass, ethnic percussion, and a powerful deep kick. Methodical and cold, with an atmosphere of dystopia, suspicion, foreboding and mystery. Suitable for hacker documentaries, crime series, undercover operations, investigations, etc. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 100 BPM]
Historical, Barry Lyndon type, civil war music. Would fit a 19th century war / historical feature. Classical war march genre of orchestration, using snare drum roll, piccolo flutes, clarinets, Bass drums, French and English horn. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 110 BPM]
A dark and forceful cue, for dangerous and threatening situations. Pounding percussion gives this track a sense of urgency and stress. Dangerous / Critical / Fight. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 116 BPM]
Stalkers, serial killers, crime scenes, murder, twisted plots and Investigation Discovery shows. The chaotic and evil sounding prepared piano and sound design creates evil thoughts of Halloween, ghosts, cults and the supernatural. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 120 BPM]
Heavy pounding drum driven big orchestral sound. Hectic very fast powerful driving solid dramatic adventure with uplifting high energy. Energizing, pulsating, production music. Bold dramatic and tense chase scene, crime in progress, bank heist, dynamic racing and action scenes. [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast / 118 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]
Horror Mystery Soundtrack. Sickly / Underworld / Twisted Voices / Plague / Cold. [Tempo: Slow / 0 BPM]
Edgy electronic underscore, with a feeling of urgency and danger. Complex and intricate but un-intrusive. [Tempo: Medium / 130 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 somewhat dark and mystical, edgy, cinematic trailer type track. Fluttering and deliberately "broken", this track has the sense of something uneasy, unstable, simmering just beneath the surface. Think demon worship, the occult. The track changes from mystical / foreboding passages to more aggressive, staccato, percussive parts, with sudden stops and starts that can be used as edit points. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 84 BPM]
Orchestral action piece with huge brass and drums implying suspense and building tension. Think espionage-laden chase. [Tempo: Slow, Fast / 90 BPM]
Pattern based 20th Century minimalist music. Surreal, Rhythmic, Underscore, Tension. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 132 BPM]
Horror Mystery Soundtrack. Creepy / Presence / Disturbing / Unrestful / Turmoil. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 0 BPM]
Pure suspense with lots of tension and a thumping heartbeat. Think a horrific crime scene, or a deadly chase through a dark forest. Repetitive motifs but constantly building and evolving to enhance the drama and suspense. Synth swells are presented separately to allow for dramatic placement anywhere in the track. Good for crime, suspense, drama, TV, film. [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast / 0 BPM]
A contemporary orchestral film score / cinematic track with a sense of danger and unease. Staccato rhythm. Turmoil / Agitation / Urgency. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 144 BPM]
Mixing orchestral and hip hop elements, this pensive, tense and nervous underscore is the good track for challenge, mystery, thriller, police, stakeout, international conspiracies, countdown, pressure situations. Also good for things like CSI, NCIS, forensics, investigation, looking for clues. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 116 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]
Dark, sinister & menacing electro-rock track. Twisted, pulsing synths combine with slow dramatic strings and jagged beats, slowly building to an intense and heavy guitar-fueled climax. Would suit horror / thriller / action / suspense / halloween projects. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 112 BPM]
Suitable for intense psychological dramas, or spy vs spy drama action films. A modern combination of orchestra, percussion, synth and electric guitar. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 105 BPM]
A melody of spacious strings & soprano voice quickly descend into darkness & mystery. Fantasy, sci-fi, adventure. Perhaps magic or mysterious intrigues. Amazement, wonderment. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 0 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]
An unsettling track. Oboe and prepared piano weave their way through dark foghorn stabs and unearthly choral textures. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 100 BPM]
Rise to the challenge! Dramatic hits, risers, and staccato strings give this track weight and intensity as it builds to its climax. [Tempo: Slow / 0 BPM]
Quiz show, tension music bed, building up to the name of the winner being announced. The style is reminiscent of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' quiz show or 'The Weakest Link'. Tension building underscore, perfect for revealing who the winner is or whether that cash winning answer is correct. [Tempo: Medium / 112 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 pensive, tense, ominous orchestral track with an an undercurrent of conflict, suspicion, malevolence. Like two enemies stalking each other, measuring each other up for a fight. Also good as a general film score cue for tense moments, time running out, perhaps manhunt, etc. [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast / 130 BPM]
Tense / Bustling / Active / Urgent / Mystical / Pulsating Music. Small orchestra soundtrack piece, featuring live performed orchestral instruments, suitable as music for film and other media. [Tempo: Fast / 160 BPM]
Begins with fast paced electro/rock underscore. Distorted guitars and sounds design are prevalent throughout. At mid-point, the entire orchestra joins in with a trailer-esque choir which builds to a final crescendo with brass stabs for impact. [Tempo: Fast / 150 BPM]
A dark, suspenseful track for horror and grisly scenes - made with dark, edgy, violent sound design and epic drums. [Tempo: Slow / 65 BPM]
An atmospheric and mystical, orchestral track. Suitable for adventure, fantasy and any project that needs orchestral flavoured atmosphere in dark and mysterious tones. [Tempo: Slow / 110 BPM]
Brooding and ominous, this dark tension & horror track grows from a quiet drone and builds to an intense atonal conclusion. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast, Very fast / 0 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, Fast / 85 BPM]
Battle drums / war drums / tribal drums. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 75 BPM]
Harp, piano and cello work together to make this mysterious track come to life. Moments of wonder and magic simulate occasional discoveries. A mix of light and darkness, somewhat neutral; general background. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 0 BPM]
This Cinematic / Electronic crossover track opens with a unique string like synth and a strong melodic theme. The first drop is a heavy hitting slow pace theme that builds with the original melody layered with synthesizers and strings, before it builds up with distorted drums, a strong string melody and a pitched-up effect to a big hit at the end. This track will work for movie and video game trailers, scenes of battle or struggle. Dark / Industrial / Cinematic / Apocalyptic. [Tempo: Slow, Fast / 65 BPM]
A high-energy cinematic piece. Its sweeping, soaring and emotional. Featuring live orchestra, mezzo soprano and background choir. A lush orchestral adventure slowly rises to push your scenes towards an epic climax, providing a perfect backdrop for feature film, epic trailer, history documentary and more. This track has multiple variations: with choir, without choir, without percussion as well as just strings mix or percussion mix, allowing you to create your personal, customized soundtrack of any duration. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 80 BPM]
Dark ambient, Horror underscore. Mysterious / Creepy / Echoey / Haunting [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 80 BPM]
A staccato and arpeggio driven track by the cello. High, dense leads with the violin to push for a dramatic tense and dry sound. Minimal, constant and evolving. Raw, edgy, neo-classical. Tense and disturbing. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 70 BPM]
A dark, pulsing tension piece. Orchestra mingling with electronic loops and huge drums support a possible military/espionage narrative or just as easily, a dark hero's charge into the inevitable. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 94 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]
A tense, dark battle between 2 opposing sides, fighting till the end. Strong use of strings with a mixture of synthesis to give the track a technical edge. Dynamic conclusion of epic instrumentation and frantic drums to bring the track to the end. [Tempo: Slow / 120 BPM]
A thrilling cinematic trailer Sting that is epic and intense. It starts with rising orchestral clusters that begin ecalating into massive, terrifying, dramatic impacts that are designed to have your viewrs on the edge of their seat. This would be excellent for trailers, tv, movies and film, promos, bumpers and video games. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 100 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]Dramatic and Escalating Cinematic Action track featuring orchestral strings, percussion, synth pads and sound effects. Great for trailers, films in action and drama genres, Police / Investigation TV series and more. [Tempo: Medium / 90 BPM]
Dramatic, hypnotic & edgy electro-rock track with great nervous tension and forward momentum. Would suit medical / spy / mystery / thriller type drama projects. [Tempo: Medium / 97 BPM]
A tense atmosphere with lots of percussion, space and crescendo with synths and drones [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 90 BPM]
A huge great bouncy meatball of a tune. Pulsing synth bass and syncopated drum groove make this one swing large. Various parts come and go but the beat must and will go on. Contains synths, drums, choirs and eastern oboes. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 133 BPM]
Action thriller track made with synths, effects, orchestra and percussion. Atmosphere, tension, suspense and action - with a modern or futuristic feel. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 90 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]
