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.
A dark yet magical piece. Epic, with a focus primarily on full choir. Requiem feel. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 70 BPM]
A brooding and dark feeling soundtrack with an emotive undertone. Features violon, cello and piano, and has a distant Asian influence. [Tempo: Slow / 109 BPM]
Neo-classical, film score, cinematic type soundtrack based on staccato strings, piano and bells. Determined, pensive, with an underlying energy, like a developing story, or piecing together clues and information. [Tempo: Medium / 128 BPM]
A track of uneasy discord and mysterious twists and turns. A disturbed mind, a fragile sanity? [Tempo: Medium / 120 BPM]
A very dark, futuristic, edgy and gritty track for dark sci-fi, fantasy, etc. This track has a vocal chant part that makes it feel ritualistic, or just threatening, ominous, dramatic. [Tempo: Slow, Fast / 65 BPM]
A gritty and harsh, semi-orchestra, semi-electronic music track with a very edgy futuristic feel. Dramatic and ominous music. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 130 BPM]
A grand, ominous, dramatic and cinematic music track, with a sense of impending drama and with a slightly sorrowful, troubled undertone. Use as music for film / movie / game / trailer project. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 60 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]
A dramatic and epic orchestral / cinematic piece featuring actual live orchestra performance in combination with samples, and a live performed soprano vocal combined with choir. Dark, ominous and foreboding, this track is high on tension and will work well with epic / struggle / battle scenes and trailers. [Tempo: Medium / 102 BPM]
An edgy, dark and dramatic, Cinematic orchestral track with full orchestra, choir and marching drums. Staccato, relentless, powerful, determined. This track was made with an actual live orchestra recording combined with use of samples. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 80 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 dark, unsettling cinematic backdrop. Uneasy / Gloomy / Mysterious. [Tempo: Slow / 94 BPM]
A pensive, determined, cinematic score. Perhaps the pivotal point or turning point in a story - a decisive moment. A sense of urgency, determination and drama. Also good for commercials / advertising with a mysterious, dark edge, perhaps technology, power or determination. [Tempo: Fast / 142 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]
A dark, somewhat gloomy, mystery soundtrack. Perhaps crime, criminals, crime investigation. Dystopian, with a sense of activity and danger. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 138 BPM]
Mystery / Intrigue / Suspicion. Subtle rhythm loop with gloomy electric piano and uneasy strings. Perhaps analysis, clues, mystery, or a story taking a dark turn… [Tempo: Slow / 86 BPM]
Inspired by film maker and composer John Carpenter, this is a homage to his masterpiece The Thing, starring Kurt Russell. Ominous blend of synthesizers and orchestral horns, with a repetitive tense motif. [Tempo: Slow / 93 BPM]
Modern rock tune featuring a bass guitar riff and sparse synths with a serious attitude. Dark and mysterious. This track almost has an eerie feel with an infectious groove. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 86 BPM]
War influenced track, with a cinematic aura. Powerful world percussion combined with middle eastern melodic phrases, full of anticipation and drive. Think Homeland and Syriana, or any tense drama with an Eastern / Arabic feel. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 110 BPM]
A brooding bassline fuses with a simmering wash of atmospheric sounds. [Tempo: Medium / 180 BPM]
Sweeping chords dip & weave through an atmospheric wash of sound. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 180 BPM]
Sparse, dark and ominous ambient track. Good for film noir, dark thriller, horror, sci-fi or spy mystery. Pensive strings, deep bass, reverberant congas. [Tempo: Slow / 0 BPM]
A dark, pensive and very tense film underscore track using staccato string section, unintelligible whispers, ethnic percussion. A very serious tone which sets the scene for crime, thriller, international conspiracies, terrorists, etc. [Tempo: Medium / 80 BPM]
Menacing, ominous underscore track for dark, futuristic scene or opening sequence in sci-fi or horror film/game. Mix of electronic and orchestral elements, occasional fragments of unintelligible radio messages with static. [Tempo: Medium / 75 BPM]
Melodic, emotional film score music, highly suitable for drama, opening sequence or underscore during emotional, thoughtful scenes of sorrow or soul searching. Semi-orchestral, semi-electronic arrangement. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 93 BPM]
Ominous, epic royalty free soundtrack piece with an orchestral/electronic arrangement. Dark, foreboding, like dark tales from a city or sci-fi horror. Rich on texture and melody with a sense of foreboding and tension. [Tempo: Slow / 0 BPM]
Dark, omninous, menacing orchestral soundtrack. Deep, pounding percussion, blaring horns and a war mongering, chanting choir of deep voices, primal, perhaps beasts or orcs. Impending war, battle, conflict. Great fantasy material, highly suitable for film, games or trailers. This track is recorded with a live philharmonic orchestra and choir. [Tempo: Medium / 98 BPM]
Fantasy style orchestral soundtrack. Dark, gloomy and ominous. Big horn sections, mysterious melodies. Great for fantasy, epic adventures, dark times, horror, impending doom and conflict. Occasional deep vocal grunts and chants. This piece plays for over 6 minutes with plenty of variation, and can be used for several different cues, or used all together as background atmosphere. [Tempo: Slow / 75 BPM]
Documentary or reality-TV style background music. Very pensive, with a a feeling of urgency, critical situation, danger, urgent investigations, rescue operations, etc. Great for reality shows, investigative journalism, crime reporting and much more. Also good for gameshow with problem solving while time is counting down. [Tempo: Medium / 120 BPM]
Sneaky, gloomy, pensive, dark and suspenseful underscore. Subtle, pulsating percussion, mystery guitar notes, low key staccato strings and occasional subtle marching snare. Nervous strings. Great for spy, thriller, mystery, undercover or secret missions - hiding, sneaking. [Tempo: Slow / 91 BPM]
Suspenseful movement. Underlying rhythm with a high-tech feel, understated guitar notes, staccato strings. Building tension. Combination of orchestral and techno soundtrack. Excellent underscore material for thriller, secret mission, secret agent, military or swat team, etc. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 93 BPM]
Dark and gloomy, powerful and pensive action thriller underscore. Nervous and understated rhythmic pulse, dark, twitchy strings. A deep sense of danger and dark forces. Great as a soundtrack for film, tv or game, mystery thriller, undercover mission, etc. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 96 BPM]
Staccato and nervous, semi-orchestral tension underscore. Undercover, dangerous mission. Few guitar notes mixed with symphonic elements and a pulsating rhytmic backdrop. Movement, getting into position, primed and ready for action. Great for spy, mystery, thriller, crime, secret mission, military or swat team etc. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 125 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]
Dangerous, nervous, dark thriller underscore. Twitchy synth just underneath the surface of a dark string- and piano texture. Sneaking, hiding, stakeout, mystery, secret mission and grave danger. [Tempo: Slow / 93 BPM]
Dark and subtly dramatic underscore for film, tv, game or any visual media. Foreboding, serious, perhaps political or law thriller, undercover or dangerous mission. Pensive, mysterious piano notes, nervous strings, brass crescendi and an understated rhythmic pulse. [Tempo: Medium / 89 BPM]
Ominous and tense, semi-orchestral action or sci-fi track. Danger or evil forces. Also suitable as music for TV Reality Drama, crime, accidents, fire or other extreme danger. [Tempo: Slow, Fast / 125 BPM]
Nervous action / thriller underscore. Stakeout, movement, urgency, ticking bomb. This track has a strong and tense nerve, as if everthing is going to blow at any second. Good tension, helped by severely distorted synths and guitars mixed in with the semi-orchestral textures. [Tempo: Medium / 130 BPM]
Semi-orchestral, semi-industrial and powerful thriller soundtrack. Dark string and brass textures, a pulsating beat that oozes just under the surface. Serious, international conflict, war or battleground, covert mission, etc. [Tempo: Slow / 50 BPM]
Dark, eerie, mystical soundscapes, with a tribal, ethnic, jungle feel. Mystery / Suspense / Tension. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 0 BPM]
'Deep Secrets' is a collection of 7 music tracks primarily made for love story or love drama. The tracks share a common main melodic theme which is hinted in each of the 7 pieces, in various different settings, which make these compositions work well either separately, or together. This music carries a certain bittersweet feeling, of longing and despair, but also of hope and tenderness. The short piece 'Love Letters' hints at a forbidden love. The much longer 'Love Promise' tells of true love, with it's tender and sparse guitar and piano melodies which later lead into an all-out tear jerker complete with Irish flute and sweeping strings that climax at around 3:45. Then there is the much darker 'Bittersweet' that tells of danger and longing, whilst the short piece 'Mystery' sets the scene for personal reflection or a puzzle. Throughout the collection, the arrangement is dominated by piano, acoustic guitar, cello, Irish flute and string section, with occasional other instruments. [Tempo: Slow / 91 BPM]
The title says it all, really, this is a film soundtrack / film mood underscore with a very suspenseful nerve, in fully orchestral / symphonic arrangement. Good for thriller, horror, suspense, fantasy, Halloween, etc. [Tempo: Slow / 0 BPM]
A weird and different piece. Very eerie, spooky, strange and hard to classify. Led by a single soprano voice, the track soon rises up to a monolithic, scary, larger-than-life mystery. Magic, witchcraft, halloween, fantasy, evil lair, strange lands, mystical places... [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 55 BPM]
Pensive, ominous orchestral film soundtrack. Secret mission, danger, impending hostilities, undercover or covert mission, military build-up, international conflict, serious consequences. The second half of the track has a much busier mood and more percussive production, and can be used for a separate cue, or as part of the main track. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 118 BPM]
A dark, cinematic and dramatic piece. Inspired by film noir and classic horror stories, as well as newer dark and quirky films by Tim Burton or soundtrack work by Danny Elfman. A tasty slice of evil... Strings, oboe, piano, toy musical box... [Tempo: Slow / 64 BPM]
A very slow and dark, pounding rhythm. Resonant distorted guitar, monotonous bass line and slow pounding acoustic drums. Images of dirty machinery, dark future. [Tempo: Very slow / 53 BPM]
A dark, tense and dramatic, textured film score piece. Very slight eastern European feel, but certainly not limited to that region. [Tempo: Slow / 0 BPM]
Dark and sombre background music based on strings and piano. Very cinematic piece suitable for any dark, ominous drama or fiction. [Tempo: 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]
Dark and ominous percussion, anxious, ritualistic, tribal, fear, malevolence. For more in this style, please see the genre Ambient: Dark/Sinister [Tempo: Slow / 104 BPM]