Look here for royalty-free underscores for Mystery and Suspense. Whether you're working on the scene where a mutilated body is found, or you're designing a video game where the hero sneaks around a deserted space ship, this area will provide sneaky, creepy and suspenseful music tracks. Much of this is orchestral music, but not all. Also electronic and more experimental musical sounds are used to create these tracks; most of which are subtle, ambient underscores, rather than up-front, brash compositions.
Twisting and churning, dark ambient soundscapes. Reverberant metal hits and clanks, disturbing textures. Good for horror, sci-fi, suspense underscore. [Tempo: Slow / 109 BPM]
Industrial strength beats, distorted synths, a hard chopping guitar and occasional big, deep brass swells. It all makes for a hard hitting war/action/battle film or game soundtrack. [Tempo: Fast / 140 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]
Mysterious, dark and ethereal soundscapes with a hypnotic, tribal influenced, repetitive drum beat. Dark / Eerie / Mystical. [Tempo: Slow / 0 BPM]
'Dark Ages' is a collection of 12 dark, ambient, semi-orchestral tracks. The music has a sense of history and mythology, making these tracks highly suitable as a soundtrack for historical drama, history / documentary as well as medieval/fantasy material, be it films, fantasy games, TV or installations. The music is mostly without any outstanding melody, making it highly usable as background texture and ambient underscore. It leaves room for dialogue and/or other audio elements, without competing. Some of the tracks carry a sense of mystery and danger, whilst others lean more towards horror and sci-fi. All 12 parts share a sense of lurking danger, impending tragedy, conflict and betrayal. The arrangements are dominated by dark drones and pads, piano, cello and resonant overtones. Also available are 9 seamless music loops from this collection. [Tempo: Slow / 58 BPM]
A slowly swaying, downtempo track somewhere between pop, chill-out and ambient. Reminescent of the sound of 'Massive Attack', this moody track pulsates, pumps and lulls the listener into a slowly sizzling groove. Superb track for media use. In addition to the original version, there is also an alternative version with subtle sounds like an old vinyl record scratching and popping, for added atmosphere. [Tempo: Medium / 70 BPM]
This esoteric and experimental track is simply impossible to categorize. From the washes of lush synths, to the stumbling rhythms and weird sound textures, it goes through various stages. Highly distinctive, noticeable, unique and somewhat futuristic, but in a bio/eco/organic way. [Tempo: Slow / 116 BPM]
A short horror / scifi track, somewhere between sound design / sound atmosphere and music. Scraping metals, swirling vortex, strung out pads... Suitable for company splash screen, intro, logo, and more. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 0 BPM]
A very strange, odd, weirdly mechanical sounding piano and percussion tune, like mechanical toys or strange machines. Suitable for strange sci-fi material, film noir or dark future visions. It has a certain retro quirky horror feel, like "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events", "Dark City" or Tim Burton's "Corpse Bride". The alternative version that we have titled 'Lost 40's recording' (see below) has deliberately been made to sound like a very old lo-fi recording. [Tempo: Slow / 60 BPM]
Dramatic, larger-than-life and dark orchestral action piece. Violence, chase, seemingly invincible enemies, huge forces, extreme danger. This track is suitable in action, thriller, sci-fi film, game or other media, or for movie trailers etc. [Tempo: Medium / 90 BPM]
Grand, epic soundtrack with sweeping, awe-inspiring orchestral passages. Perhaps from an awesome discovery in a fantasy world, an evil lair, an gruesome monster or dramatic event. Suitable as fantasy movie soundtrack, game soundtrack, movie trailer and more. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 125 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]
Blending the symphonic/orchestral with the contemporary, modern, futuristic, this is a crossover track that works well as film soundtrack, credits roll, or as music for any kind of visual media, web site, etc. An epic melody played by string section is backed up by a fat, downtempo electronic groove and various sweeps and swirls. [Tempo: Medium / 100 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]
A very mellow ambient soundscape with soft moody pads, dark rhodes piano, acoustic guitar and a solo violin. Occasionally joined by a subtle, downtempo, lounge style drum beat. Very atmospheric, reflective, thoughtful & dreamy. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 63 BPM]
Dramatic film score type track with a sense of impending conflict, danger, struggle, political or military conflict. Big Hollywood sound, and great for action, thriller, mystery, spy, military drama, political drama, international conflict and much more. [Tempo: Fast / 120 BPM]
Tense, dramatic orchestral film soundtrack style. Military, conflict, political thriller, international drama, secret operations and dangerous times. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 130 BPM]
Broken and fragmented, hard hitting, stuttering and sputtering electro rock with industrial elements. Chopped-up, spitting guitar riffs with extreme distortion. This is pretty grungy stuff, high on adrenaline. A sense of cutting-edge mechanics, machinery, etc [Tempo: Medium / 120 BPM]
Angelic, foreboding, ominous, awe-inspiring in a subtle way, this is a cinematic orchestral soundtrack piece that creeps under your skin. A sense of being in the presence of greatness or something otherworldly. Superb film soundtrack material, be it for sci-fi, drama, fantasy or history. [Tempo: Slow / 63 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]
The Sami, also known as Lapps, are the indegenous people of Northern Scandinavia. Hailing from northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia (the Kola Peninsula), their lives and appearance have a lot in common with Native Americans. Their music is dominated by the unique and easily recognizable Joik (or Yoik) which again lends similarities to the chanting vocal styles of Native American music. It is often accompanied by a simple hand drum beat. We also offer an instrumental version, which is really just a drone and a hand drum beat, and could be used for any indigenous, ancient, tribal or native music. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 50 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]
New classical, impressionist style, wonderfully expressive solo piano piece. [Tempo: Slow / 72 BPM]
Busy, high intensity, drum'n bass oriented, electro-static breakbeat sizzler. [Tempo: Very fast / 160 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 tense, melodic soundtrack piece with a monolithic, dramatic melody and a feeling of dark urban future. Great for sci-fi, drama, etc. [Tempo: Slow / 0 BPM]
A beautiful and tasteful Eastern track featuring tambur, dumbek and eastern oud and ney flutes. [Tempo: Slow / 100 BPM]
A set of 8 audio stingers, idents, audio logos. Suitable for Flash intro, company logo splash screen, screen transitions, etc. [Tempo: Slow / 152 BPM]
Sparse and beautiful, with meditation bell and resonant pads. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 0 BPM]
A pensive, broody and mystical musical backdrop, perhaps of an ancient time or a mysterious, forgotten place. Very highly suitable as an atmospheric background for a dark fantasy world. [Tempo: Slow / 104 BPM]
String drone and ethnic flute. Dark, ominous, sparse, like the desert, savannah, mighty mountain ridges or vast open landscapes. Highly suitable for nature or travel. [Tempo: Slow / 0 BPM]
Uptempo, urgent, pop-jazz crossover. Energetic synth-bass, piano interludes and upbeat electronica drums. Energetic busy action, great for things like game shows, makeover programs, scenes of busy activity, working within a time limit, and more. [Tempo: Very fast / 158 BPM]
Futuristic beats and atmospheric synth arpeggiations, cool bass melody at second half of track, opens right out to cyberpunk post apocalyptic goodness, science and technology, action sequences, sci-fi, sports, advertising. [Tempo: Slow / 94 BPM]
Dark and spacious ambient textures, slowly evolving, sacred knowledge, hidden secrets. [Tempo: Very slow / 108 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]
Cool and contemporary tech house, cyclic and grinding synth bass, tight rhythmical beats and lush atmospheric pad. Motivated and full of energy. [Tempo: Medium / 118 BPM]
Dirty and twisted electronica, swooshing pads, machine like drum programming, futuristic and cyberpunk, sci-fi, science and technology, insights and discovery.. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 108 BPM]
Spacious and hypnotic reversed guitars, minimalist and existential. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 0 BPM]
Dark and atmospheric ambient chill, filtered and distorted beats with harsh synth slices and spacious pads, low sub bass, weird time signature, futuristic, sci-fi, science and technology, would also work for contemporary erotic scenes [Tempo: Very slow / 35 BPM]
Dramatic and mysterious piano, accompanied by harp and strings. Inspired by soap opera music cliches. [Tempo: Medium / 0 BPM]
Warm pads, bells and a mysterious Eastern wind instrument, the Sarangi flute. Great background music for travel and mystery, adventure and excotic places. Foreboding, underlying mystery music. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 0 BPM]
A very atmospheric Fantasy track. Reminiscent of ancient times, mysterious worlds, perhaps fairies, elves, or a grand adventure in a fantasy world. Also some medieval influences. [Tempo: Slow / 0 BPM]
Dramatic and urgent orchestral march. Dangerous situation, battle etc. [Tempo: Fast / 131 BPM]
Combining elements of hardcore techno and gritty rock, this track features traditional techno-trance drums with an aggressive guitar riff. Groovy, dirty, good for extreme sports, action footage and more. Similar to The Crystal Method or Rammstein. [Tempo: Fast / 130 BPM]
Dramatic hip-hop style with an orchestral element and a spy mystery feel. Deep bass line, dramatic string section and a pounding hip-hop beat gives a 'rough' urban sound and the marching snare gives it a serious edge. Good for inner city, street drama, police, investigation, suspense and action thriller etc. Also great for multimedia, branding and more. [Tempo: Medium / 101 BPM]
Foreboding organ chords with slow, pumping and grinding beat entering at about 0:45. Illbient, pensive, slightly sickening and somewhat hypnotic sound. Downtempo, ominous, pensive. Urban, inner city drama or industrial, mechanical danger or any dark, moving imagery. [Tempo: Medium / 66 BPM]
An eclectic and unusual blend of funk, ambient, industrial and rock, with swirling guitar textures, downtempo urban style hip-hop drums and occasional overdrive guitar riffs. Moody and gloomy, but also mellow and floating. Great for science, technology and mystery, but also for action, extreme sports, unusual/weird visuals etc. [Tempo: Medium / 90 BPM]
A sneaky and sinister underscore track with a heartbeat like rhythm. Twitchy strings, mysterious chord progressions, pensive mood. This track is quite long and it develops over time into a more intense track with more of a clear and present danger, chase or frantic fear. After 3 minutes an electronic drum beat sets in to raise the intensity level by another notch. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 60 BPM]
Classic horror film sound. A bit retro, typical 'haunted house' or monsters horror flick. Chamber orchestra, scattered piano, nervous strings. Deadly monsters lurk, perhaps a werewolf or other horrible creature. Mischievous. Great as Halloween music, parody, animation etc. [Tempo: Slow / 0 BPM]
