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.
Pushing through on an adventure filled with dangers and threats. Courage and bravery send bring hope to the listener. [Tempo: Slow / 120 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]
Orchestral hits and numerous rises and falls make this a dramatic track that tells a story. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 125 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]
Slow brush drums hitting softly with distorted long sounds and some scary sounds. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 60 BPM]
A swing jazz band playing on top of a bed of scary string tremolos and SFX. A pause at 1:42. Afterwards, brass instruments return with some crazy noodling. Unsettling, a bit psychedelic, perhaps losing grip on reality. [Tempo: Medium / 115 BPM]
A dark and determined, forceful and methodical, orchestral march. Relentlessly marching on, an awesome force. Dark / Foreboding / Relentless / Doom-laden / Forceful. [Tempo: Medium / 95 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]
Pulsating low bass, rhythmic low percussion toms. Merging the aesthetics of tension with trailer music elements. Conveys a sense of threat, uncertainty, and horror. Suitable for dystopian sci-fi, action thrillers, crime dramas, spy / undercover agent, military operations or horror movie trailers. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Medium / 100 BPM]
Methodical pulsating bass, ethnic percussion, and a powerful deep kick. Methodical and cold, with an atmosphere of dystopia, suspicion, foreboding and mystery. Suitable for hacker documentaries, crime series, undercover operations, investigations, etc. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 100 BPM]
Low, propulsive deep bass. Gradually building an atmosphere of horror, dystopia, uncertainty, and fear. Suitable for horror movies, thrillers, crime and criminal investigation, sci-fi and mystery, spies, undercover agents, danger and tension.(Stem files available.) [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 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 high-intensity, cinematic action track. Battle, chase, urgent situation, hunt. Big horns and staccato strings, with pounding orchestral drums and ominous chords. Dramatic / Fight / Marching / Escape / Chaos / War. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Fast / 133 BPM]
A dramatic and imposing orchestral cinematic track, with a strong sense of the occult and dark magic. Great for the occult, black arts, sorcery, voodoo, devil worship and classic horror content. Dark Fantasy / Malevolent / Disturbing / Foreboding. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 87 BPM]
An intense and imposing orchestral cinematic score with a classic movie soundtrack style. Mystery and tension soon gives way to all-out dramatic action, with urgency, chaos and turmoil, with blaring horns, pounding orchestral drums and rapid, turbulent woodwinds. The final section of the track features a more heroic conclusion. This track is great if you're going for the sound of the golden age of action and drama movies. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 95 BPM]
- 01 Percussion
- 02 Double Bass
- 03 Intro Strings
- 04 Intro Cello Tremolo
- 05 Intro Strings Spiccato
- 06 Main Brass
- 07 Back Horns
- 08 Left Trumpet
- 09 Right Trumpet
- 10 Staccato Trumpet
- 11 Woodwinds
- 12 Woodwind Solo
- 13 Synth
- 14 End Piano
- 15 End Bass Horn
- 16 End Right Brass
- 17 End Staccato Horn Left
- 18 End Trumpet Staccato
- 19 End Strings
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]
An edgy and tense action track. Pounding percussion and staccato strings provide the forward-driving energy, and occasional blaring horns and an ethnic lute join in from time to time to provide additional drama and a bit of ethnic mystery to the intense action music. Suitable for tension, action, urgent operations, etc. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Fast / 125 BPM]
Deep and brooding strings establish a mysterious atmosphere before climaxing and evolving into a powerful, confident theme statement. Rich strings and horns make for an epic feel. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 72 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]
Dark and pulsating, mystery or thriller underscore. Ominous, suspicious, with pulse bass alternating with bass guitar, and echoey percussion. Great tension track for use with police investigation, spy thriller, criminals / crime in progress, break-in, stake-out, clandestine mission, etc. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 76 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]
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 suspenseful, tense theme. Orchestral hybrid that features a simple haunting cello solo. The piece grows over time and incorporates an ethereal piano and high whispered strings. Fitting for a modern suspense thriller or horror movie. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 70 BPM]
Neo-classical music for film, videos, cinematic storytelling and other media. Uneasy / Urgent / Danger building. Orchestra with piano, a timeless classic movie sound. Great for film noir, mysteries, jealousy, crime drama etc. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 132 BPM]
Tension-filled background music for thriller, suspense and tension. Pulsating synths with percussion. Great for police operation, swat team, crime in progress, stakeout, spy / undercover and more. Besides the main track, this piece also comes as several seamless loops which can be used in combination with each other to 'build' the soundtrack needed for a scene, in a modular way. Simply place the different loops on the timeline, in a way that matches your on-screen action, or blend, combine, crop and join the loop pieces to create your own 'version' of the track. [Tempo: Medium / 100 BPM]
Powerful and intense, this track is perfect for a ritualistic scene. Strings accompanied by hissing chanting chaotic choirs. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast / 90 BPM]
Brooding and ominous, this dark tension & horror track grows from a quiet drone and builds to an intense atonal conclusion. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast, Very fast / 0 BPM]
Dark and ominously hybrid tension music with electronica elements, pulsating rhythm, deep, impactful taiko percussion, and ambient pads. Suitable for suspenseful film scenes, thriller documentaries, and crime investigation podcasts. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 100 BPM]
Cello-led with cinematic orchestral with violin leads and string accompaniment. Versatile, thematic in nature, steady track with lots of movement and motion sonically. Raw, naked, film noir, chamber orchestra sound. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 90 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 gritty, tense and constantly building track with a sudden halt to push towards the next boundary in the middle of this cinematic soundtrack. Suitable for dramatic, edgy and dark story-telling. A raw, dark and intense orchestral soundtrack. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Fast / 160 BPM]
Orchestral action piece with huge brass and drums implying suspense and building tension. Think espionage-laden chase. [Tempo: Slow, Fast / 90 BPM]
A dark, ambient track that showcases atmospheric synths and a short but intense percussion build at the end. For horror films or thrillers. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 67 BPM]
An atmospheric dramatic track that begins with light piano and synths and expands with the addition of strings, electric guitar, and heavy drums. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 64 BPM]
Tense orchestral piece. Pulsing drums and strings, abrasive brass and drums, haunting textures and an overall suspenseful pursuit. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 98 BPM]
A sharp hit begins this brooding, sinister horror track, which features suspenseful, ambient synth swells and atmospheric string effects. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 55 BPM]
A mysterious cloud of sounds made up of guitar effects and synths creates a sense of subtle uneasiness. About halfway in, the action intensifies with big drums ushering in a sense of urgency. The music later dissolves to the same sense of mystery it started with. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 95 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]
Ominous and tense. Orchestra, drums and haunting textures build suspense throughout. [Tempo: Medium / 156 BPM]
Edgy ambient/rock, heavy, dark, industrial. Sort of ambient electronic at the beginning. Kicks off towards the end of track with a build up. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 105 BPM]
Electric track with drone type of sound. Dark / Sci-fi etc. [Tempo: Medium / 120 BPM]
An dark, electronic / orchestral crossover track with drama. Slow string runs that are backed by legato strings along with the low cello. Emotional strings build up to the first big hit that features a massive distorted synthesizer and mega brass drone hits. The main drop is heavy with distorted drums and high pitched strings. The track keeps building with a big riser to a massive final hit. Suitable for trailers, sci-fi, war / scenes of battle, conflict, escape, rescue mission etc. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 75 BPM]
A dangerous and overwhelming piece of background music. Powerful and intense. Will work with danger, fear and dark scenes. Good for film, drama, entertainment. [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast / 125 BPM]
Soundtrack for battle scenes or impending battles. Big, epic and dominating strings, brass and cymbals collide to create the atmosphere for war. Adventurous, courageous, crusading music. [Tempo: Medium / 120 BPM]
Dark synths create a fearful, brooding atmosphere for this ambient track, while quiet, slow paced percussion rhythms keep it moving. For horror or Halloween films. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 55 BPM]
A tense and spooky scene is evoked with orchestra and an optional piano track. Creepy and evolving, suitable for dark, evil passages. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 0 BPM]
Beginning with a dark and eerie bass drone filled with suspense and intrigue and accompanied by old west style guitar licks, this down-tempo trip hop trickle evolves into a full scale torrent of aggressive, slamming rock guitar driven mayhem. Ideal for gaming - especially cut scenes - but also great for use in extreme sports and advertising. The tension rises... this can only end one way! [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 58 BPM]
Intense drama themed piece that uses driving percussion and urgent strings to full effect. It relentlessly builds to a dramatic conclusion.
[Tempo: Medium, Fast / 130 BPM]Percussion only track / Battle drums. Tracks with Drums only are useful for action sequences, fight scenes, war and battles, macho sports and exertion, powerful imagery, dramatic trailers and more. Also available as seamlessly looping Drum loops / Percussion loops. [Tempo: Medium / 70 BPM]
Percussion only track / Battle drums. Tracks with Drums only are useful for action sequences, fight scenes, war and battles, macho sports and exertion, powerful imagery, dramatic trailers and more. Also available as seamlessly looping Drum loops / Percussion loops. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 75 BPM]