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 mysterious and pensive, orchestral underscore for Fantasy, Adventure or Sci-fi. A mixture of awe, amazement, wonderment and nervous tension. What's lurking behind these walls? Great background material for Fantasy games, Adventure / Discovery, Historical and Epic stories. Can also work for some Epic Trailers. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 0 BPM]
Breathing, low, complex texture joined by full orchestral percussion. War influenced music, with a cinematic aura. Powerful world percussion combined with middle eastern melodic phrases, full of anticipation and drive. Think Homeland and Syriana -- tension, conflict, prisoner, secret hideout, nuclear warhead, troops moving, etc. Cinematic / Orchestral / Percussion / Action / Trailer music. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 120 BPM]
A classic dashing romantic track in the style of Max Steiner and MGM films that will work for scenes of adventure and romance with a hint of danger. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 60 BPM]
Disturbing but exotic and intensely moving. Electronic pads accompany Indian slide guitar in a dark environment. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 0 BPM]
Dramatic rising cinematic track driven by powerful percussion. The track begins calmly and builds to a powerful conclusion. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 70 BPM]
An orchestral track with a conflicting dark vs light approach. Very awe inspiring, regal / triumphant, but with a dark side. Perhaps the rise of an awesome army, a dark sorcerer or a hiding a terrible secret. [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast / 0 BPM]
A creature from beyond time and space appears, accompanied by massive, cinematic, trailer-style orchestra and choir! [Tempo: Fast / 151 BPM]
A dramatic, cinematic, orchestral piece of amazement and heroism. This piece gradually builds up from an ominous, dark beginning, increasing into a crescendo towards the end. [Tempo: Slow / 74 BPM]
A mysterious, dark, ambient music track made with evolving strings and dark drones. Dark / Sci-Fi / Ambient / Unsettling Music. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 0 BPM]
Full percussion and orchestral score suggests big open spaces, great adventures, new frontiers to conquer. Main battle drums set in after about a minute. [Tempo: Medium / 97 BPM]
A threatening and dramatic score for horror / thriller / chiller, with a retro sound and feel. Reminiscent of classic horror movies. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 0 BPM]
Sinister orchestra over an urban beat and retro style theremin. Spooky and atmospheric perfect for contemporary halloween and horror projects. [Tempo: Slow / 80 BPM]
An unsettling and nervous film or television underscore cue. A repetitive rhythm gives the piece a pensive feel and the uneasy drones and pads brings a sense of terrible realization or an unfolding mystery. Great for crime investigation, horror, dark drama, documentary and more. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 91 BPM]
A dark, pulsating, futuristic blockbuster music track, featuring repetitive synth combined with full orchestra, bringing hybbrid blend of modern cinematic approach. Powerful / Mysterious Music. [Tempo: Medium / 120 BPM]
Epic and dramatic with many suspense and action sections. Strong and catchy melody. Orchestral with contemporary percussion grooves makes this piece very accessible and suitable to a huge range of productions and media applications. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 120 BPM]
A very dark and threatening orchestral soundtrack, featuring repeating waves of foreboding, ominous, menacing swells. Highly dramatic and spine chilling. Apocalypse / Emergency. [Tempo: Slow / 70 BPM]
Dark, Pensive underscore track for Action Thriller / Mystery / Horror / Sci-fi / Adventure. A Tribal / Ancient / Mystical backdrop meets with Ethereal pads and pounding percussion. Awe / Tension / Amazement / Drama. A rich, cinematic, dark sound. Available with or without the drums, and with or without the ethereal vocals. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 90 BPM]
A brooding and atmospheric music track, featuring a haunting mood of northern cold and tribal beat. Suitable for epic scenery, historical music, cultural themes, indigenous peoples and cultures, far-away lands and amazing stories of wonder and awe. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 75 BPM]
Neo-classical, film score, cinematic type soundtrack based on staccato strings, piano and bells. Determined, pensive, with an underlying energy, like a developing story, or piecing together clues and information. [Tempo: Medium / 128 BPM]
An electronic and orchestral piece, with elements of dubstep. Heavy tension is strongly present throughout, and the overall feel is reminiscent of an epic film battle. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 80 BPM]
Dark and gloomy, powerful and pensive action thriller underscore. Nervous and understated rhythmic pulse, dark, twitchy strings. A deep sense of danger and dark forces. Great as a soundtrack for film, tv or game, mystery thriller, undercover mission, etc. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 96 BPM]
A dark, minimal, and sparse track with hypnotic bass, pulsing synths and light percussion. Crime, danger, tension. Mysterious and tension building. (Stem files available). [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 90 BPM]
A dark, evil and emotive score. Very climatic, brilliant, intense and epic. Available with or without the dramatic choir section. [Tempo: Slow / 64 BPM]
A heavy hitting orchestral track with dubstep elements. Big hits along with epic string bring the track up to a massive drop. Main drop is heavy with low dubstep bass and distorted drums. The track builds up with a string melody to a big final hit with the distorted bass in the end. This track is good for cinematic trailers, scenes of battle and war. [Tempo: Slow / 65 BPM]
A dark and grungy orchestral hybrid track. Unsettling distorted synth and drums keep a relentless and dark theme. The track slows down to a slight quiet break in the middle, followed by a loud and heavy drop that plays out to the end. This track is suitable for video game or movie trailers, scenes of struggle or battle. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 70 BPM]
A brooding theme for a dystopian world. Unsettling, yet strangely evocative. Would suit a TV thriller style title sequence, Sci-Fi game or futuristic commercial. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 90 BPM]
A dark, suspenseful and creepy trailer track made with screaming strings, eerie vocals and scary effects. Trailer structure, made with many stopping points for easier editing. Hybrid / Dark / Eerie / Trailer. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow, Medium / 120 BPM]
Modern, propulsive, restless bass. A sense of suspension, unease, and threat. Tension evolving towards trailer music. Tension / Trailer / Modern Music. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Medium / 100 BPM]
Battle drums / marching percussion. A combination of orchestral percussion and ethnic / tribal drums. Suitable for battle, fight, chase, conflict, etc. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 60 BPM]
Action and suspense soundtrack with a funky, retro feel similar to classic 60s and 70s film scores. Starts with a sparse, avant garde feel gradually building to a dramatic, driving funky groove with horns and strings. Also features piano, percussion, drums and bass. [Tempo: Medium / 112 BPM]
Exotic, futuristic and atmospheric track made with various synths, percussion and erhu. Mystical and Eerie, with a sense of ancient history meets distant future. [Tempo: Slow / 90 BPM]
For Thriller, Suspense, Horror, Police, Criminal investigation. Ominous repetitive piano and harp motif builds up into a full orchestral climax. Good for opening credits and crime and investigation series. [Tempo: Medium / 90 BPM]
Tense combination of sound designer sounds with ambient synth textures and a hard hitting techno backdrop. action, drama, dramatic, chase, crime, police, battle, war, futuristic action and suspense. [Tempo: Fast, Very fast / 100 BPM]
Dramatic and ominous, this orchestral / symphonic theme could suggest the rise of a great evil, or a world under threat. It might particularly be suited to scenes where a hidden danger is revealed. Dramatic / Fantasy. [Tempo: Medium / 112 BPM]
Is this business as usual or a front for an illegal operation? Suspenseful underscore, featuring odd-meter orchestral/electronic rhythmic vamp which gives the feeling of a working process, but at the same time of mischief, something not-quite-right. Good for mystery films and documentaries on crime. Key of D, 104 bpm. [Tempo: Slow / 103 BPM]
Serious, pensive, cinemematic underscore music with strings, piano and subtle beats. Foreboding / Suspenseful Music. [Tempo: Slow / 80 BPM]
Funky yet slightly sinister bouncey dance track. Synth basses, leads and drum loops. The chorus brings uplifting string and electric piano stabs and lines. Like Kraftwerk jamming with Earth, Wind and Fire... if only. Would suit thriller, spy/sci-fi or action projects. [Tempo: Medium / 100 BPM]
Ominous and tension-building music mood with big drums and choirs. Dramatic / Edgy / Epic music. [Tempo: Slow, Fast / 135 BPM]
A suspense and slowly evolving music track with a mystic and trailer feel combined. Synths are layered with orchestra, with pulsating bass, and epic choir at the end. Sci-fi / Fantasy / Action thriller, etc. [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast / 85 BPM]
A cue consisting mainly of electronic sounds and synths. Large "bram" sounds from brass mixed with epic sounding strings which create a large cinematic sound. Distorted drums and driving guitars make this a huge sounding track. [Tempo: Medium / 110 BPM]
A suspenseful, pulsating music track featuring plucked synths, background guitars, and simple piano melody. Very dramatic and tense mood with a touch of ambient electronica. Elegant / Flowing / Mystical Music. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 85 BPM]
A slightly dark and unsettling orchestral piece that builds in energy as it unfolds. Could be useful in scenes where characters are facing an obstacle, or scenes in which they are trying to find courage. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 68 BPM]
This hybrid pop music track combines the serious flavor of Tech narration cues with 80's-drenched Synthwave music. Its plucked synth motif is set against evocative synth bass, fluid pads and trap-inspired drums. A sense of intrigue and perilous excitement is evoked in this piece, excellent for themes, dramas, and style programming. Tech / Synthwave / Peril. [Tempo: Medium / 88 BPM]
A cinematic track in four sections. Thin, ambient opening. Wood blocks, bells, and chimes sparkle, while powerful string and brass sections drive the piece forwards. Soft, gentle resolution. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Slow / 64 BPM]
A dramatic track that builds in tension and features strings, piano, big percussion hits, electric bass synth, and pads. Perfect for action and adventure scenes or reality game show programming. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 86 BPM]
An epic and cinematic orchestral music track that builds slowly and powerfully with a huge choir and orchestra entering at 1:10. Perfect music for film trailers. [Tempo: Medium / 110 BPM]
Atmospheric piano intro growing in epic powerful music and percussive orchestral theme. Dark / Strong / Epic music / Powerful. [Tempo: Slow, Fast / 150 BPM]
Tensile, unearthly washes stretched over a deep sonic rumble. Ominous, discordant & menacing. Very uneasy, sneaky, mysterious, a little bit psychotic. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 0 BPM]
Dark and foreboding sound design elements building with percussion and threatening strings. Violent and edgy. Epic / Trailer / Tension Music. [Tempo: Very slow, Fast, Very fast / 126 BPM]
A dark, sneaky, and malevolent sounding underscore for sci-fi, mystery and horror. For the most part dark ambient, but a section with pounding drums that can be edited into place for a more action based bed track. Horrific / Extreme danger / Otherworldly. Also available without the drums and with / without the vocal. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 90 BPM]
