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, somewhat gloomy, mystery soundtrack. Perhaps crime, criminals, crime investigation. Dystopian, with a sense of activity and danger. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 138 BPM]
Nervous soundtrack underscore for a classic western style duel. A mysterious lone ranger rides into town, will there be another shootout at the OK Corral? Interspersed with occasional mexican flavors. [Tempo: Slow / 70 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]
Disturbing and dramatic piece uses all new sounds and textures. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 112 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]
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]
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]
A dark, percussive piece. Low, swelling strings and steady drums lead into an intense pulsing action cue. A hero's theme of determination. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 97 BPM]
Dark and cinematic cue with a reflective beginning and builds to a tense and emotional climax. Starting with simple piano before strings and horns slowly creep in. Great for movies and documentaries. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 120 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 Percussion Only track, with marching snares, military march. Occasional big drum strikes. Useful for scenes of battle, chase, urgency, action. [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast / 160 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]
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 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]
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]
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]
Ominous and powerful theme music featuring distant trumpet, orchestral trumpet and strings creating an enticing atmosphere. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 104 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]
Driving string ostinatos begin this tension filled track, featuring cool synth lines, ambient pads, piano, and grooving drum beats. Good for an adventurous reality game show or an action packed thriller. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 86 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]
A dark, orchestral suspense track made with epic orchestra and drums. Ominous, foreboding. [Tempo: Slow / 100 BPM]
Mysterious electronic underscore, for moments of uncertainty and problem solving. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 85 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]
Terrifying, thriller, Chase, chilly, nervous tension, sinister, threatening, creepy. Horns, strings, cello, drone, flute, pads, synths. [Tempo: Slow, Fast / 0 BPM]
Atmospheric horror. For dark, brooding scenes, especially sci fi. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 0 BPM]
Ever felt that you were being watched by someone? Your every move being monitored from afar. A sinister, fevered, twisted and unnerving piece. Contains violins, cellos, xylophones, string plucks and some quite twisted melodies that slowly unfold, creating lots of tension. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 75 BPM]
Orchestral action piece with huge brass and drums implying suspense and building tension. Think espionage-laden chase. [Tempo: Slow, Fast / 90 BPM]
A serene string introduction grows into a hybrid orchestra with asian instruments playing an energetic passage. A hypnotic electric guitar takes over and brings the music to a peaceful, uplifting ending. [Tempo: Medium / 124 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]
Ominous and tense. Orchestra, drums and haunting textures build suspense throughout. [Tempo: Medium / 156 BPM]
An ambient film soundtrack cue with a very mysterious edge. Pensive, slowly moving soundscape, like hiding, sneaking, or breaking and entering. A subtle rhythmic element enters about half way through along with a deep drone, giving the track a darker, more ominous edge. Great for crime thriller, investigative documentary, a tense moment during reality show or forensic investigation, etc. [Tempo: Slow / 109 BPM]
A dark dystopian landscape with a driving rhythmic bass, pounding drums and blistering feedback. Resolves at 1:10 with a huge sweeping chord. [Tempo: Medium / 100 BPM]
Imagine walking through the ruins of a haunted castle at night, never knowing what night be round the next cobweb covered corner. A very black and sinister piece. Slow with a building tension. Contains synths, drum kit, guitars and bass. [Tempo: Slow / 68 BPM]
Big, powerful and epic music track made with big orchestra, epic choir and drums. Two parts, ending with big hit, suitable for trailers. Dramatic / Epic / Orchestral Music. [Tempo: Medium / 150 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]
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]
Dark, grand, glorious, glorifying soundtrack piece. Rising up, epic, dominant, malevolent. Low choir voices. Pounding rhythm. Staccato brass stabs. Powerful, determined. [Tempo: Medium / 100 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]
For sinister characters with murder on their minds or other scenes of darkness and danger this track fits the bill. Features percussion, harp, piano and various sfx. Perfect for TV dramas such as Dexter, Criminal Minds, CSI etc. [Tempo: Slow / 90 BPM]
A brooding, ominous and dark soundtrack for mystery, thriller or drama. Foreboding / Tense / Threatening. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 65 BPM]
Pushing through on an adventure filled with dangers and threats. Courage and bravery send bring hope to the listener. [Tempo: Slow / 120 BPM]
A dark, mysterious track with an unusual instrumention of a jazz group. Classic, old school Horror type cue. The Zodiac Killer would probably listen to this as he stalked his next victim. [Tempo: Slow / 110 BPM]
Electronic drone underscore with futuristic undertones. Intrigue feel, with military snare, unique rhythms. Feature Nord Lead Synth. [Tempo: Medium / 120 BPM]
A cold, tense, lonely and mysterious sounding track with sparse synth pads, white noise and a kick drum that represents a heart beating. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 50 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]
Aggressive track of evolving suspense and tension, odd and mysterious at times, dark and ominous at times. A punch in your face! [Tempo: Slow, Fast / 164 BPM]
A dark and cinematic orchestral piece. Driving percussion tracks combine with darkly harmonized strings and an Indian vocal flair to create a sense of tension and urgency. [Tempo: Slow / 75 BPM]
Action-packed orchestral chase scene with traditional Arabic musical influences. Harmonic minor scale. Featuring dramatic strings and drums, with the occasional sting of the dulcimer. Perfect for a fight, race, or epic battle scene. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 118 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: Slow, Medium / 0 BPM]
A suspenseful introduction with synths, percussion, and piano lends way to a faster paced, exciting, tension building track with the addition of strings, pads, melodic motifs, and driving rhythms. [Tempo: Medium / 91 BPM]
