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.
These dark horror cues can be classed either as "music cues" or "sound effects", as in reality they function as both. They are all recorded with a large, live symphony orchestra with the same quality as any soundtrack from big budget movies. The effects are easy to loop and edit, and can be tailored to fit any cue, as they can be used from virtually any point. Consider them a construction kit to score horror, mystery and dark drama. Recorded, mastered, and delivered to you in pristine 24-bit audio. Also look for YS Horror Cues 21-40 and YS Horror Cues 41-60. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow, Medium / 0 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]
This piece of electronic music is suitable for any scene of rushing or urgency within a hospital or medical facility. It could also be used for a chase scene within a hospital. Included in this track is the beeping and ticking sound of a typical heart and blood pressure monitor at bedside - which completes the tension felt when listening. [Tempo: Medium / 120 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 reality TV type tension track featuring bells, synths, and percussion. Builds throughout for a sense of forward motion while maintaining intensity. Think of any reality TV series where elimination rounds are involved. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 84 BPM]
A tense and dark trailer-style track led by orchestra and synths while featuring electronic drums and driven guitars at points. Epic and powerful, with a clock-like pulse. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 120 BPM]
Inspired by classic role playing video games, the noble orchestra of this piece creates a heroic mood as its sets the stage for dark challenges in a dangerous dungeon. [Tempo: Slow / 65 BPM]
Dark and haunting Piano plays over some eerie and ambient sound effects. Creates the mood for tense and scary scenes in movies and halloween projects. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 58 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]
Cinematic dramatic action track with deep and dark vibe and growing tension. Good for jungle and forest scenes, ambush in the battle, war and special military operations, spy films and videos. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 120 BPM]
A cinematic, pensive track that starts with a fragile piano motif, and then grows, increases, builds… into a crescendo. Available with our without big drums. Suspenseful. Good for dramatic scenes, imminent danger, approaching situation. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 100 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: Slow, Medium / 90 BPM]
Dark sinister & brooding soundscape that will have you locking all your doors & windows! Synth fx, horror percussion fx and ominous choir drones combine to make haunting, tense music suitable for horror / hallowen / ghost / thriller type projects. Don't look behind you!... [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 74 BPM]
Rhythmic synths open this tension building track, featuring pulsating bass and string motifs and drum grooves. A great action or thriller track with a mysterious mood. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 91 BPM]
Disturbing and dramatic piece uses all new sounds and textures. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 112 BPM]
These dark horror cues can be classed either as "music cues" or "sound effects", as in reality they function as both. They are all recorded with a large, live symphony orchestra with the same quality as any soundtrack from big budget movies. The effects are easy to loop and edit, and can be tailored to fit any cue, as they can be used from virtually any point. Consider them a construction kit to score horror, mystery and dark drama. Recorded, mastered, and delivered to you in pristine 24-bit audio. Also look for YS Horror Cues 01-20 and YS Horror Cues 41-60. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow, Medium / 0 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]
Pensive, sinister, apprehensive, sneaking, waiting. Dramatic underscore that provides nerve and tension to film, crime, investigation, stakeout, horror or dark mystery. [Tempo: Medium / 105 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]
Light suspenseful tension track suitable for reality television results shows like American Idol and Dancing with the Stars, to keep your audience anxious. Low brooding bass, morphing synths, emphatic strings, and escalating percussion all work to create an intense edge-of-your-seat atmosphere. [Tempo: Fast / 144 BPM]
A pensive, ominous and dark - but restrained, cinematic / orchestral piece. Hints of trouble on the horizon. Suitable for drama, crime, period drama, film/tv. [Tempo: Medium / 158 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]
A dark suspense piece with a haunting quality. Tension builds amidst huge drums and orchestra with an abnormal sense of determination. [Tempo: Medium / 143 BPM]
Pulsating sound design track with subtle but nervous percussion. Expectant, foreboding and slightly menacing. Good for use in thriller, action / adventure, sci-fi and sci-tek, future warfare, technology or suspense / action. Tense. Starts to build in intensity from 2:00 onwards and reaches a climax / crescendo at 02:55. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 115 BPM]
A somewhat dark, pensive and mysterious, neo-classical / film soundtrack styled piece. Elegant, but edgy. Dark stirrings / Malevolent / Grotesque. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 104 BPM]
A dark and ominous fantasy / adventure soundtrack, dominated by dark and moody pad textures and a muted trumpet. This track starts out sneaky and foreboding, and grows over time, gradually building up the intensity towards a climax at the end. A combination of orchestral and modern sounds, the track is gloomy, eerie and majestic. [Tempo: Slow / 97 BPM]
Orchestral tension, movie soundtrack underscore. Tension, disturbing, anxious. [Tempo: Medium, Slow / 115 BPM]
Useful for animation and short animated story. To show the character or main hero who looks out and trys to find enemies or bad guys lurking somewhere out. Mysterious and enigmatic, with percusive ethnic instruments, more agressive and dynamic in second part, preaparing for some kind of climax part which has will happen soon after... a battle or combat. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 88 BPM]
Deep world percussion and fast strings, brass and huge drum accents. Good for heavy tension and struggle, dramatic reality TV cues such as Survivor, The Apprentice, Hell's Kitchen, Design Star and The Bachelor. [Tempo: Slow / 86 BPM]
An orchestral piece, a rather dark one. This composition builds up a tension and an uncomfortable feeling. It's thrilling and suspicious, this song makes a good suspense conductor without specially having any particular ending at the end, this could end well, or bad. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 89 BPM]
A powerful mix of syncopated synths, dramatic, fast accented strings and breakdown beats. Ideal for reality TV cues when firing contestants as well as other dramatic cues such as Celebrity Apprentice, Survivor and Hell's Kitchen. Mob hits and urban chase scenes with bad guys on the move. [Tempo: Medium / 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]
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]
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]
Ambient / Electronica / Film score. Forward motion with Orchestral drum. Lingering. Pensive. Suspicious. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 100 BPM]
Medium slow, intensely powerfully epic, spacey, grinder rock track. Has a dark & menacing atmosphere built by heavy guitars mixing with massive drum grooves & spacious synth textures. Would suit extreme sports / horror / action / thriller projects. Potent stuff. [Tempo: Slow / 106 BPM]
Cool and ethereal electro rock track with a slightly sinister undertone. Spacey plucked santoors float over soft and spacey synth pads and noises as a slow, determined beat kicks in. Would suit dramatic or cinematic projects. [Tempo: Slow / 59 BPM]
Dark, gloomy, sinister underscore for film, TV, games, thriller, chiller, horror, etc. Darkly sparkling. Suspenseful, few notes, somewhat experimental, ambient soundscapes. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 110 BPM]
Short evolving epic track with tension building. A climate of danger, mystery, anxiety leading to the climax ending part. [Tempo: Slow / 66 BPM]
This piece is suitable for killer clowns, zombies, possessed dolls, etc. An eerie piece with a deep terrorizing bass line; highlights the squeaky nature of the Oboe and the sentimental vibrato of the trumpet to create an ironic atmosphere of horror with a slight comedic feel. [Tempo: Slow / 70 BPM]
Military style battle music for underscore, TV or video game. Features low brass, percussion and strings. [Tempo: Medium / 104 BPM]
Ominous and powerful theme music featuring distant trumpet, orchestral trumpet and strings creating an enticing atmosphere. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 104 BPM]
A dark, atmospheric track with an eerie and unnerving feel. Perfect for horror, Halloween, dark themed productions that need a foreboding, menacing and creepy soundtrack to create a nightmarish and unnerving tension and chilling atmosphere. [Tempo: Slow / 75 BPM]
A broody, dark, cinematic track with a slight military / operation feel. Barely audible lo-fi telecommunications over dark beds of mangled and distorted synth pads and guitars. Undercover operation, military or space / sci-fi material. Sneaky, suspicious and ominous. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 75 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]
A tense and threatening track that's great to use in a teaser trailer. With big percussion, synths, acoustic guitars, underlined by penetrating strings and brass. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 114 BPM]
A dramatic, driven piece. It starts with low strings and a driving drum beat. It grows into a powerful, epic conclusion, full of brassy horns and epic percussion. Perfect for a battle scene or an epic chase. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 120 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]
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]
Ambient, dark, slightly tense with low piano notes, light percussion, synth choir and fx. Good for eliminations on reality shows, tv and film dramas, crime, horrors, mysteries, thrillers and documentaries. [Tempo: Slow / 64 BPM]
