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.
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]
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]
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]
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]
Military style battle music for underscore, TV or video game. Features low brass, percussion and strings. [Tempo: Medium / 104 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]
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]
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]
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 modern, pumped up and ready to rumble composition of big drums, guitars and electronics. Will work great in a UFC or WWF environment or pre-fight analysis. Will also work well in areas such as gaming, racing, competition, contact sports and even technology. [Tempo: Medium / 120 BPM]
Orchestral tension, movie soundtrack underscore. Tension, disturbing, anxious. [Tempo: Medium, Slow / 115 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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
Ambient / Electronica / Film score. Forward motion with Orchestral drum. Lingering. Pensive. Suspicious. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 100 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]
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]
Heavy foreboding percussion signals something big is coming. Deep brass drones and strings providing the tension. Distant choir add to the emotion of uneasiness. [Tempo: Slow / 100 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 mixture of electronic synths, percussion and strings are used to generate a sense of risk. The continuous pulsating guitar, heavy percussive hits, low piano notes and high string trills create an apprehensive mood, making this ideal for game shows with elimination rounds. [Tempo: Slow / 64 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]
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 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]
Edgy rocky, heavy ambient industrial. Sort of ambient electronic at the beginning. Kicks off towards the end of track with a build up. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 105 BPM]
The Third Reich is to Hitler what the Imperial March was for Darth Vader. It begins with a simple staccato violin pattern and flute melody until the call of horns introduces the ground-shattering beat, synonymous to the force of military tanks. When you thought things were rough, an epic finale kicks in. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 60 BPM]
An atmospheric dramatic track that begins with light piano and synths and expands with the addition of strings, electric guitar, and heavy drums. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 64 BPM]
Electronic drone underscore with futuristic undertones. Intrigue feel, with military snare, unique rhythms. Feature Nord Lead Synth. [Tempo: Medium / 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 dramatic and imposing orchestral cinematic track, with a strong sense of the occult and dark magic. Great for the occult, black arts, sorcery, voodoo, devil worship and classic horror content. Dark Fantasy / Malevolent / Disturbing / Foreboding. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 87 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]
An evil, Far East / Oriental style 'bad guy' theme that moves slowly, but threateningly to create a sense of anxiety. The Erhu is backed by a deep chanting male choir, drums and tense strings. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 0 BPM]
A full on dramatic action track, great for big superhero style trailers, or modern powerful sci fi films. Mixing traditional scoring orchestral elements with modern futuristic glitched style synths, this track is perfect for that big budget trailer sound, or for an epic dramatic action film. [Tempo: Slow / 78 BPM]
Tense, building free jazz underscore. Pulsing,hypnotic,and intense low-tempo track,with atmospheric synth sounds and a slow build up. It brings to mind a sense of danger and anticipation. Nice for productions that require a dense, dark and a bit scary backdrop, such as features and TV shows. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 130 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]
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]
Urgent and dramatic electro underscore. Powerful yet unobtrusive. [Tempo: Medium / 120 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]
This track has an eerie and deranged mood. It has hints of psychosis and insanity and features the main melody played on a detuned toy music box. It would be well suited for footage and video games about horror, suspense, fantasy and paranormal subject matter. [Tempo: Slow / 0 BPM]
Dark, moody, modern action track. Percussion based with electronic and rock elements. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 86 BPM]
Tense orchestral piece. Pulsing drums and strings, abrasive brass and drums, haunting textures and an overall suspenseful pursuit. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 98 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, Very fast / 150 BPM]
An upbeat action thriller track with a modern Filmcue vibe: Suspenseful pending build up. Rich in cinematic texture. Great for various cinematic use, ominous background, action suspense segments etc. [Tempo: Slow, Fast / 120 BPM]
Electronica infused orchestral music. Tension builds throughout the piece, ending with a big boom, but retaining a somewhat anticipative aura. Good music for war preparation, rendezvous scenes and crime investigation and chase. [Tempo: Medium / 100 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]
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]
An edgy, dark & moody underscore bed that dips and weaves on an atmospheric journey through threatening and dangerous territory. Menacing washes & distant metallic crashes add other layers of anticipation to this uneasy soundscape. A variety of mixes add flexibility, including a 7-minute mix for extended usages. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 116 BPM]
High-intensity, electronic film trailer music, with strong, unrelenting bass and drum tracks and an ever-building array of orchestral instruments. The grand instrumentation and driving energy provide a clear sense of urgency that climbs until the very final moments of the piece. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 90 BPM]
A dynamic and evolving orchestral track. Full of twists and turns - darkness and danger turns to light and enchantment. [Tempo: Medium / 120 BPM]
