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.
Intense piano and strings are soon joined by heavy urban drums. For setting an ominous, serious mood. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 84 BPM]
A brooding bassline fuses with a simmering wash of atmospheric sounds. [Tempo: Medium / 180 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]
Deep percussions and synths build a dark and intense atmosphere with a sense of suspense and drama. Great track for underscore dramatic situations. An amazing fusion of distorted guotar lines , percussions and strings. [Tempo: Slow, Fast, Very fast / 140 BPM]
Historical, Barry Lyndon type, civil war music. Would fit a 19th century war / historical feature. Classical war march genre of orchestration, using snare drum roll, piccolo flutes, clarinets, Bass drums, French and English horn. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 110 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]
Slow spacey rocker. starts slow and sleazy and gains in intensity And emotion as it progresses. Lots of cool guitar licks and lush sounds. Think Jeff Beck meets satriani at Steve Lukather's barbecue. Contains guitars, bass , drums and keyboards. [Tempo: Slow / 117 BPM]
Dark ambient, Horror underscore. Mysterious / Suspicious / Ominous / Sickly. Dark sound design. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 75 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]
Sneaky, suspicious, ambient track with a sense of future, sci-fi, space. Could be good for a scene of exploring a dangerous place, abandoned spaceship or warehouse, strange alien planet, etc. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 47 BPM]
A dark, edgy and suspenseful music track featuring a hybrid sound of orchestra and electronics, with big percussion. Dangerous / Threatening / Tension building music. [Tempo: Medium / 164 BPM]
An atmospheric and mystical, orchestral track. Suitable for adventure, fantasy and any project that needs orchestral flavoured atmosphere in dark and mysterious tones. [Tempo: Slow / 110 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]
Deep, ominous and distorted opening into hard-hitting orchestral and electronic impacts. Violent. Epic / Action / Trailer Music. [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast / 120 BPM]
Prepare to enter battle with this tense, epic, cinematic track. Starting with percussion and gradually building with brass, strings, snare drum and even some war cries. Good for movies, video games and tv dramas ranging from ancient times through to futuristic Star Wars type battle scenes. [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast / 70 BPM]
A staccato and arpeggio driven track by the cello. High, dense leads with the violin to push for a dramatic tense and dry sound. Minimal, constant and evolving. Raw, edgy, neo-classical. Tense and disturbing. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 70 BPM]
A subtle underscore for film, drama, war/documentary, cultural, historical etc. Has a dark nerve, with a slightly Oriental sounding motif around the 1 minute mark, which is followed by a sorrowful, desolate piano theme and a crescendo at about 2 mins. [Tempo: Slow / 55 BPM]
A doom-laden and magic-infused epic cinematic track. The mystical and magical opening part soon gives way to a dark, pounding, methodical and determined, marching beat with big orchestral brass stabs. Foreboding and tense, this is a great 'going to battle' track, suitable for fantasy, adventure, action, war, invasion and power. Music not unlike what you will find in cinematic trailers for big and epic fantasy movies. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 165 BPM]
A stormful, staccato, orchestral / cinematic piece for drama, tv, documentaries, period drama, nature and more. Urgent, active, dramatic, turmoil. [Tempo: Fast / 180 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]
An intensely ominous electronic/orchestral soundscape supports a brooding, haunting theme; overwhelmed with darkness and fear, this track is destined for moody scenes of terror and horror in contemporary cinema... For underscore and build-up. Instrumental, Dangerous Music, Dark Music. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 120 BPM]
A truly grand and epic track. Hybrid orchestral, with electronic percussion and electric guitar and a choir joining in later. A sense of high drama and epic journeys. Amazement / Heroic / Determined / Grand. [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast / 125 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 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]
A contemporary, cinematic music track with an intriguing and captivating vibe. Featuring piano, strings, glockenspiel, atmospheric pads and orchestral percussion. Great for dynamic action scenes in films, TV and documentaries. [Tempo: Medium / 125 BPM]
Nervous action / thriller underscore. Stakeout, movement, urgency, ticking bomb. This track has a strong and tense nerve, as if everything is going to blow at any second. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 131 BPM]
Eerie, tense, percussive soundscape with a relentless spooky melody, dark metalic FX and flute sweeps. Atmospheric with a sense of suspense and imminent danger. Menacing and sinister. 48 hours, The Mentalist, Castle, Alien Invasion, crime drama, horror, Sci-Fi. [Tempo: Medium / 100 BPM]
Useful for animation and short animated story of two parts. Anxiety and mystery, thrill and unanswered riddle in first part. Then it quickly switches to second part which has more tension and is more dynamic, pefect for telling sad story about kind of bad thing which happened somewhere. [Tempo: Medium / 122 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]
Cinematic style track built from loops. Cold piano is layered with percussion, horns, strings, and organ to create a driving mood. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 99 BPM]
Horror Mystery Soundtrack. Sickly / Underworld / Twisted Voices / Plague / Cold. [Tempo: Slow / 0 BPM]
Percussive rhythms and undulating synths create a fresh and exotic, dark vibe well suited to post-apocalyptic scenes as well as technology and sleek design advertising. [Tempo: Medium / 96 BPM]
Pure suspense with lots of tension and a thumping heartbeat. Think a horrific crime scene, or a deadly chase through a dark forest. Repetitive motifs but constantly building and evolving to enhance the drama and suspense. Synth swells are presented separately to allow for dramatic placement anywhere in the track. Good for crime, suspense, drama, TV, film. [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast / 0 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]
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]
Horror Mystery Soundtrack. Intrusive / Malevolent / Dark Hits / Disturbing. [Tempo: Slow / 0 BPM]
Not for the faint-hearted! Menacing Score track with powerful drums and diverse aggressive, distorted sounds. Evil, scary and very dark. [Tempo: Slow, Fast / 120 BPM]
A dark and tension building cue, with a sense of urgency and imminent danger. Like a stalker on the trail of his prey. [Tempo: Medium / 101 BPM]
A dark, pulsating and suspenseful track featuring dramatic strings, brass, percussion. A feeling of urgency, tension and dangerous situation. Brooding / Tense / Uneasy / Apprehensive. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 140 BPM]
Orchestra, piano, choir and drums suggest a foreboding realization. Ominous and haunting. [Tempo: Slow / 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]
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 pulsing synthesizer sets the tone for a dark atmosphere in the beginning. Drums with a hint of bit-crushed distortion build up and then quiet down before a massive drop. The main drop hits with a huge impact of drums and low bass. Layered in electronic melody gives the track a modern and edgy feel, but keeps a serious tone. Resembles "Tron Legacy" soundtrack. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 70 BPM]
Pulsating, monotonous bass. Occasional repetitive piano melody. Minimal percussion, building sound effects. Evokes a sense of menace, mystery, uncertainty and tension. Suitable for dramatic films, spies and undercover agents, criminals / crime in progress and stakeout operations. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 77 BPM]
Hard-hitting, relentless hybrid industrial trailer royalty free music track leading to a victorious crescendo. Tense, atmospheric intro builds with epic hits and sound design to synth motif from 1'00'' and distorted riff from 1'34". [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 85 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]
Fast and urgent orchestral action music, coloured with electronic drums. Great for actions and thrillers. A sense of pressure is very prominent, with pounding brass, stabbing strings and thunderous percussion. [Tempo: Fast / 160 BPM]
A hybrid orchestral / electronic track with a strong sense of amazement and drama. Dark, but also soaring, this track has a Sci-fi / Future feel, but also an almost primal edge to it. Good for Scifi / Fantasy / Action adventure. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 70 BPM]
A darkly ambient and suspenseful music track made with various orchestral and acoustic instruments. Soundtrack / Eerie / Mystical Music. [Tempo: Slow / 50 BPM]
A brooding, ominous and dark soundtrack for mystery, thriller or drama. Foreboding / Tense / Threatening. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 65 BPM]
