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.
Dark, eerie, ethereal, spacious, creepy, moody, thoughtful, slightly menacing electronic track with a slow groove & a sense of foreboding. Hypnotic, cool, smooth & haunting. Would suit mystery / crime / documentary / Halloween / horror type projects. [Tempo: Slow / 79 BPM]
Staccato and nervous, orchestral tension underscore. Undercover, dangerous mission. Few French horns 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. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 97 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]
An intense epic action cue that starts mysterious and builds to full out action with driving percussion rhythms, orchestral energy, and big drums, underscoring anything from a fast car chase to a battle between man and machine. Very much in the vein of John Powell's "Bourne" movies and the scores of Hanz Zimmer and Steve Jablonsky ("Batman Begins" and "Transformers"). [Tempo: Fast / 138 BPM]
Building from an uneasy atmosphere into complete Bedlam with a variety of orchestral passages, stabs and flourishes. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 114 BPM]
A gritty, tense and constantly building track with a sudden halt to push towards the next boundary in the middle of this cinematic soundtrack. Suitable for dramatic, edgy and dark story-telling. A raw, dark and intense orchestral soundtrack. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Fast / 160 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]
Dark American drama music with strings, guitars and drums with a menacing and foreboding mood. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 125 BPM]
Military / Science fiction soundtrack style. A slow, pensive and mysterious opening gives way after a couple of minutes to a pompous, staccato horn stabs and marching snares and all-out battle with horn stabs and fast congas. Sci-fi and battle/chase scenes. Ominous, dramatic, conflict. [Tempo: Medium / 80 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]
A soundtrack for mystery and intrigue. Uneasy stirrings. Suspicion, underlying tension. An elegant mystery theme in classic TV/film style. [Tempo: Medium / 92 BPM]
Pulsing energetic percussive beat, dark and solemn , threatening, tense, and powerful, perfect for a war action scene. [Tempo: Medium / 83 BPM]
A sharp hit begins this brooding, sinister horror track, which features suspenseful, ambient synth swells and atmospheric string effects. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 55 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]
An epic orchestral track, great for scenes of a grand adventure, action, new discoveries, a fantasy world, an epic journey. It has a dramatic, awe-inspiring feel with a heroic and cinematic sound. [Tempo: Medium / 120 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]
A pulsating tension track, combining electronic and orchestral elements. Serious, suspenseful, tension building and with a feeling of awe. The intensity increases throughout the track. Something big is approaching, as this cinematic music moves toward a strong conclusion. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Medium / 0 BPM]
An orchestral, ambient piece with dark harmonies and a sense of ominous tension. [Tempo: Medium / 120 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]
Richly harmonized strings combine with dark brass undertones to create a cinematic vibe in this dramatic orchestral piece. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 0 BPM]
A dark and edgy piece with a sense of foreboding and ominous forces. A pulsating deep rhythm with strings, brass and occasional gothic choir chants, like from an occult séance or a dark ritual. Mystical / Tense / Occult / Horror / Creepy / Gritty / Shocking. [Tempo: Slow / 90 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 / 140 BPM]
Electronic percussion and eerie electric piano melodies generate an atmosphere of tension and suspense. The mystery thickens and new sound layers are added in a dramatic, hypnotic crescendo with a few stops, perfect for edit points. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 88 BPM]
Terrifying, thriller, Chase, chilly, nervous tension, sinister, threatening, creepy. Horns, strings, cello, drone, flute, pads, synths. [Tempo: Slow, Fast / 0 BPM]
This is a film soundtrack with an epic vibe. Orchestral arrangement with a lot of tension and energy. Ideal for war, battle and fight themed films with a brooding feel. Emotional and Heroic feelings that bring a lot of inspiration to the listener. [Tempo: Medium / 84 BPM]
A dangerous and overwhelming piece of background music. Powerful and intense. Will work with danger, fear and dark scenes. Good for film, drama, entertainment. [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast / 125 BPM]
This is a very emotional cinematic composition. Peaceful and slightly melancholic beginning building up to the very dramatic and sensational middle part with a very epic powerful orchestra and grand piano passages, and then going back to the first part. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow, Medium / 85 BPM]
A big epic and dynamic edgy action music for movie trailers, or dramatic action films. Hard hitting orchestral lines fuse with modern digital technology in a great piece of Hybrid powerful action music! [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast / 148 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]
This track has a haunted overtone and pays a subtle homage to the music 'Dexter' in the theme. This cue would work well for film or television, opening credits, paranormal footage and spooky movie trailers. It features detuned piano and haunting choirs that makes a nice ghostly tension builder. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 70 BPM]
Pulsing and bouncy music track, featuring introspective piano and rugged synthesizer that create intrigue and mystery. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 120 BPM]
A tough, uncompromising and dynamic soundtrack with a driving, futuristic feel that would suit epic visuals, contemporary gaming, modern war themes, movie trailers & films. Stark instrumentation leaves room for narrative, epic sound design or added SFX. [Tempo: Slow / 0 BPM]
A short track that tells of darkness and sadness. [Tempo: Medium / 90 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 Percussion Only track, with marching snares, military march. Occasional big drum strikes. Useful for scenes of battle, chase, urgency, action. [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Very fast / 95 BPM]
A dark, stressed battle or conflict track. Pulsating, big ethnic percussion, darkly twisted orchestral textures, vocal chants. Danger, tense situation. Rock guitar enters the mix at about 02:40. [Tempo: Medium / 87 BPM]
An orchestral piece written for action and adventure sequences. It is full of drama, suspense, powerful drum hits, stabs, and melodic lines.
[Tempo: Medium, Fast / 130 BPM]Soothing, tranquil and yet slightly mysterious and uneasy orchestral piece. Unusual blend of piano, strings and ambient synth sounds to make this track a little journey through different moods. Contains piano, strings, synths and drums. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 70 BPM]
A feeling of suspense and eerieness. Chase, suspense, urgent, uneasy, tension, anticipation. Sneaky tension. World percussion, strings, horns, synths. [Tempo: Medium / 83 BPM]
A hybrid orchestral track with special effects, big pounding percussion, orchestra and choir. Rousing, aggressive, and majestic. Dark / Ominous / Tense. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 63 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 pensive, rhythmic underscore for a dark thriller, drama, crime mystery or documentary. The percussion carries a slightly ethnic or tribal feel, while the wailing, screeching metallic pads give the track a sense of fear, anxious waiting or nervous movement. Great for film, television drama, crime scene investigation, reality show and much more. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 86 BPM]
Dark, atmospheric and eerie music track made with hybrid synths. Suitable for a main theme or as a part of the soundtrack. Scifi / horror / thriller music. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 120 BPM]
Cello-led with cinematic orchestral with violin leads and string accompaniment. Versatile, thematic in nature, steady track with lots of movement and motion sonically. Raw, naked, film noir, chamber orchestra sound. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 90 BPM]
A lonely music box melody builds to a full orchestra before ending as it begins. Dark, tense and climactic but not too scary, family oriented horror. Good for trailers, video games, cartoons, halloween, quirky Tim Burton type films and even commercials. [Tempo: Slow / 70 BPM]
Layers of synth, strings, and light, echoey vocals create a ghastly mood of foreboding in this ambient track, which ends suddenly and sharply with a shocking, big hit. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 0 BPM]
A brooding bassline fuses with a simmering wash of atmospheric sounds. [Tempo: Medium / 180 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]
A dark and ominous underscore with ambient guitar sounds. Mysterious and with a feeling of unbearable heat, or a dark, damp place. Think Breaking Bad, Banshee or other modern western, or doom laden TV / Film music. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 90 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]
