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.
Opening with a simple ambient piano motif, this track soon explodes into a dark, passion fuelled combination of distorted guitars and driving percussion - Dramatic / Aggressive / Futuristic. [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast / 110 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]
Ominous thriller underscore. Piano theme joined by slowly rising strings and a low level rhythmic pulse. Subtle but serious -- suitable for political drama or thriller, law, action, crime or mystery. A sense of tragedy or serious consequences. [Tempo: Medium / 94 BPM]
A dark, suspenseful track for horror and grisly scenes - made with dark, edgy, violent sound design and epic drums. [Tempo: Slow / 65 BPM]
Horror Mystery Soundtrack. Sickly / Underworld / Twisted Voices / Plague / Cold. [Tempo: Slow / 0 BPM]
An epic orchestral track, great for scenes of a grand adventure, action, new discoveries, a fantasy world, an epic journey. It has a dramatic, awe-inspiring feel with a heroic and cinematic sound. [Tempo: Medium / 120 BPM]
A Percussion Only track, with marching snares, military march. Occasional big drum strikes. Useful for scenes of battle, chase, urgency, action. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 0 BPM]
A throwback to classic role playing games, the orchestra evokes a dark dungeon with unknown dangers lurking around every corner. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 123 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: Slow / 78 BPM]
A modern sounding trailer style epic dramatic action music track, blending glitchy style digital synths and electronic drum loops with traditional orchestral scoring parts. Great for big blockbuster action films, sci fi, adventure and trailers. [Tempo: Medium / 105 BPM]
Horror Mystery Soundtrack. Dark / Violent / Chaotic / Insanity / Twisted. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 0 BPM]
A sneaky and creepy semi-orchestral soundtrack piece. Twitchy and nervous strings, scattered piano notes, metal clanks, subtle pulsating rhythms. Suitable for horror/scifi as well as for documentary, forensics, murder investigation etc. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 96 BPM]
Dark, sinister & menacing electro-rock track. Twisted, pulsing synths combine with slow dramatic strings and jagged beats, slowly building to an intense and heavy guitar-fueled climax. Would suit horror / thriller / action / suspense / halloween projects. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 112 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 / 150 BPM]
Powerful, dramatic orchestral track with a sense of an imminent attack about to happen. Danger, conflict, tension, preparing to go to battle, not knowing what awaits. This film score style track has a cinematic, epic sound, great for action, adventure, thriller type productions. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 110 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]
Dark and ominous event, eerie sounds, threatening and edgy, sustains with aggressive internal percussive events. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 100 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 dark, industrial and heavily percussive piece with elements of dubstep. [Tempo: Slow / 65 BPM]
A dystopic soundtrack. Starts with a simple bass pulse, and builds slowly to a high intensity with manipulated brass sounds and various other alien sounding synths. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 120 BPM]
A lumbering and hypnotically simple riff-laden tune. The slow, doomy beat slowly creeps towards you with evil intent as strings, Leslie guitars and synths colour the track. Contains guitars, bass, drums and strings. [Tempo: Slow / 80 BPM]
A dark and pensive Sci-fi / futuristic underscore. Cinematic, slowly developing, with a deeply pulsating beat and string section. Uneasy, tense, gloomy. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 65 BPM]
String quintet developing a dramatic theme, suited for dramatic series involving psycological or criminal content. Timeless, with a classic / classical influence music. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 160 BPM]
An orchestral, ambient piece with dark harmonies and a sense of ominous tension. [Tempo: Medium / 120 BPM]
Urgent and dramatic electro underscore. Powerful yet unobtrusive. [Tempo: Medium / 120 BPM]
A mysterious suspense music track, with piano and strings and a more rhythmical second part. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 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]
Creepy orchestration suggests an approaching evil menace or a supernatural event. Steeped in suspense, this dark, sinister piece builds towards a horrific & sudden conclusion. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 0 BPM]
Horror Mystery Soundtrack. Intrusive / Malevolent / Dark Hits / Disturbing. [Tempo: Slow / 0 BPM]
A pulsating tension track, combining electronic and orchestral elements. Serious, suspenseful, tension building and with a feeling of awe. The intensity increases throughout the track. Something big is approaching, as this cinematic music moves toward a strong conclusion. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Medium / 0 BPM]
Dark ambient, Horror underscore. Mysterious / Suspicious / Ominous. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 80 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]
Mysterious / Awaiting / Obscure / Uncertain / Thoughtful / Riddle Music. Small orchestra soundtrack piece, featuring live performed orchestral instruments, suitable as music for film and other media. [Tempo: Medium / 120 BPM]
A dark, edgy and suspenseful music track featuring epic percussion ensemble, strings and brass. Suitable for tension building and dramatic events. Brooding / Ominous music / Urgent / Threat. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 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]
An ominous, dark and dramatic, orchestral / cinematic piece. Foreboding strings build up towards a change at about 30 seconds, into a more dramatic section with choir and big drums. Epic, dark, almost ritualistic. [Tempo: Slow / 95 BPM]
A menace lurks in the shadows, slowly creeping towards it's victim. OR: Someone enters a house, to make a gruesome discovery... Full orchestra with synth horror atmospherics. Ends with a big bang! [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 55 BPM]
Starting small with a sense of isolation and tension, the drama gradually intensifies, ending with an epic final note. A modern combination of piano, guitar, synths, percussion and strings. [Tempo: Slow / 90 BPM]
Pensive and mysterious, rhythmic film/drama underscore. Science, technology, investigation, perhaps forensics or chemistry. Finding solutions, interpreting clues, maybe building up to something. [Tempo: Medium / 80 BPM]
A short track that tells of darkness and sadness. [Tempo: Medium / 90 BPM]
Energetic percussion/electronic track with impelling synth riffs, huge orchestral drums. Perfect for action films, extreme sports and trailers. [Tempo: Slow, Fast / 120 BPM]
This track starts with a strong sense of mystery and tension, like there’s a real danger lurking. Huge action drums come in later, bringing the track to a huge conclusion. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 112 BPM]
A dark, orchestral trailer track with a serious, brooding and war-like character. Starts with an eerie "calm before the storm" feel and gradually builds into an epic and intense finale. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 120 BPM]
An unsettling track. Oboe and prepared piano weave their way through dark foghorn stabs and unearthly choral textures. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 100 BPM]
A dark, dramatic and war like music track, made with big epic classical orchestra. World War theme. All parts connected, same mood. Army March with variations. Doom laden music. [Tempo: Medium / 120 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]
A dark, foreboding, gloomy, orchestral cinematic / soundtrack piece. A sense of slow forward movment or progress. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 120 BPM]
Suitable for intense psychological dramas, or spy vs spy drama action films. A modern combination of orchestra, percussion, synth and electric guitar. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 105 BPM]
A soundtrack for mystery and intrigue. Uneasy stirrings. Suspicion, underlying tension. An elegant mystery theme in classic TV/film style. [Tempo: Medium / 92 BPM]
Dangerous, nervous, dark thriller underscore. Twitchy synth just underneath the surface of a dark string- and piano texture. Sneaking, hiding, stakeout, mystery, secret mission and grave danger. [Tempo: Slow / 93 BPM]
