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 tense and dark trailer-style track led by orchestra and synths while featuring electronic drums and driven guitars at points. Epic and powerful, with a clock-like pulse. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 120 BPM]
A catchy, forward moving orchestral/electronic track suitable for action/thriller, featuring groovy drums and a powerful sub bass line that will give your project a nice touch. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 130 BPM]
Tense orchestral piece. Pulsing drums and strings, abrasive brass and drums, haunting textures and an overall suspenseful pursuit. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 98 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]
Dark and ominous event, eerie sounds, threatening and edgy, sustains with aggressive internal percussive events. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 100 BPM]
Fantasy style orchestral soundtrack. Dark, gloomy and ominous. Big horn sections, mysterious melodies. Great for fantasy, epic adventures, dark times, horror, impending doom and conflict. Occasional deep vocal grunts and chants. This piece plays for over 6 minutes with plenty of variation, and can be used for several different cues, or used all together as background atmosphere. [Tempo: Slow / 75 BPM]
A magical, sweeping, cinematic piece with a 'lurking' feel. Good as background music for fantasy and adventure, this track uses a full orchestra with bells. Pensive chord progressions. A sense of mystery and intrigue. Amazement and wonderment. Somewhat "Harry Potter-esque". Very craftfully produced orchestral sound. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 0 BPM]
Atmospheric Thomas Newman-style trailer music drone that slowly builds up to an action climax with cinematic drums and staccato synthstrings. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 140 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 suspenseful action blockbuster music track, featuring a combination of synths, industrial elements and symphonic orchestra. Huge percussion ensemble and wide brass section. Strong / Dramatic Music. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 100 BPM]
A subtle orchestral film soundtrack underscore, nervous and dark with a feeling of mystery and hidden truths. Delicate, frail strings, mysterious woodwinds, sneaky backdrop. Good for drama, exploration, danger, lurking and sneaking, unfolding story. Dark and pensive, but not openly horror or terror. More suspicion, exploration in a dark place. Good for film and TV, also for adventure games etc. [Tempo: Very slow / 81 BPM]
A modern trailer music track, starting out as a suspense piece, and then evolving into big, epic track featuring large percussion ensemble. Epic / Powerful / Brooding music. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 95 BPM]
A dramatic, staccato, pounding track featuring orchestra and epic percussion. Situation critical, imminent danger. Rhythmic and dark, this track starts with a somewhat mystical tone and then grows and develops into a hard, stormful, tense march. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 140 BPM]
A dark and obscure track with accented strings, huge percussive hits, sound effects and ambient synths. Ideal for dramatic breaking news and reality TV cues such as Dateline NBC and Rock Center. Useful for news investigations, videos involving turmoil, struggle, elimination and the idea of serial killers, crime scenes, murder, twisted plots, Halloween and Investigation Discovery. [Tempo: Slow / 78 BPM]
The Third Reich is to Hitler what the Imperial March was for Darth Vader. It begins with a simple staccato violin pattern and flute melody until the call of horns introduces the ground-shattering beat, synonymous to the force of military tanks. When you thought things were rough, an epic finale kicks in. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 60 BPM]
A dark and suspenseful music track featuring ambient cinematic mood, tension building orchestration and modern sound created by orchestral elements and synths. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 75 BPM]
Battle drums / marching percussion. A combination of orchestral percussion and ethnic / tribal drums. Suitable for battle, fight, chase, conflict, etc. [Tempo: Slow / 75 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]
Low, rhythmic bass sequence. Spatial, unsettling effects. Overdriven percussion. Ideal for science, mystery, darkness, laboratory, criminal mysteries. Science / Mystery / Tension. [Tempo: Medium / 100 BPM]
Beginning with a lone melancholy piano motif, this eventually gives way to a driving epic supporting string and percussion ostinati leading to a thrilling climax. [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast / 95 BPM]
Soundtrack / Sci-fi / Space / Fantasy. Understated and a little ominous, this track evokes a subtle sense of being threatened. Could work in dystopian settings or scenes involving suspense or danger. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 110 BPM]
Tense, indecisive, foreboding, listless and restless. Swell near end delivering to lingering tension that can resolve or be left hanging. Good for drama, intrigue, moral dilemma, daytime drama, troubled romance. This track is recorded with a real live philharmonic orchestra. [Tempo: Slow / 0 BPM]
A quirky and odd production music track with naive bells and a slight 'medieval' touch of harpsichord. Like an old house with secrets, perhaps something that would go in a dark comedy, a Halloween related production or a haunted house music. [Tempo: Medium / 105 BPM]
An orchestral cinematic mystery background track. Classic movie soundtrack / film score sound, with piano and orchestral elements create an eerie, suspicious, investigative feel. This rather dark and foreboding background music will go well with drama, mystery, crime, detective investigation, solving riddles, finding clues, or just following a developing story of intrigue and enigma. [Tempo: Slow / 78 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 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]
A dark and suspense trailer track with an atmospheric and dramatic mood. Lots of rising effects, soundscapes and hybrid synths. Edgy, dramatic, tense. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 110 BPM]
A Percussion Only track, with marching snares, military march. Occasional big drum strikes. Useful as music for scenes of war, war preparation, battle preparations, etc. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 137 BPM]
A tense and dark action / sci-fi / thriller underscore. Dark pads and twitchy, ethereal soundscapes, with action thriller style drum / percussion parts. Think horror / mystery / science fiction / dark drama. Can also be for very edgy sports footage. Available with or without the drums. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 120 BPM]
Soundtrack / Sci-fi / Space / Fantasy. This dark and ominous track suggests that there is danger around the corner. Could work in scenes involving exploration or tension. The climax in the middle could be used to denote some type of discovery. [Tempo: Slow / 103 BPM]
Battle drums / marching percussion. A combination of orchestral percussion and ethnic / tribal drums. Suitable for battle, fight, chase, conflict, etc. [Tempo: Slow, Fast / 120 BPM]
An energetic orchestral track with driving drums, percussion, and synths, for a thriller, reality show, or action or horror film. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 138 BPM]
low drone and electronic percussion create an atmosphere of tension and expectation that builds to a release marked by an eerie fractured piano melody. [Tempo: Medium / 105 BPM]
Edgy and suspense cinematic music track made with orchestra, synths and other various effects. Action / Spy / Tension Music. [Tempo: Medium / 120 BPM]
A powerful, ominous, epic royalty free music track featuring a pulsating clock, suspense ambience, and uprising force of the orchestra and large mixed choir. Suitable as music for epic and battle scenes. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 80 BPM]
A dark and gloomy underscore for film / TV. Piano and strings. Suspicion, regret, pain. Unsettled thoughts. Unease. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 0 BPM]
Action or Sports underscore. Epic and heroic, with a dark edge. Pound for Pound Best in the world. Track builds in waves to the finish. [Tempo: Medium / 120 BPM]
A very dark and dramatic music, starting as a suspense build-up for an epic sounding main section, which consists of a classic symphonic orchestra with large percussive elements and metal impacts. Powerful / Tense / Dangerous. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 85 BPM]
A moving, liquid, driving underscore, hybrid, combining electronic and orchestral elements. String and piano leads with percussion and synthesizer elements. Futuristic and organic feel. Tense, ominous. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 120 BPM]
Industrial and pounding sound design with action beats. Edgy / Powerful / Mechanical Music. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 100 BPM]
An eerie piece with dark soundscapes and textures. Intense drums and orchestra are utilized in unconventional ways. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 0 BPM]
Battle drums / marching percussion. A combination of orchestral percussion and ethnic / tribal drums. Suitable for battle, fight, chase, conflict, etc. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 102 BPM]
Spacey, slow and slightly dark electronic piece. Trancey synth-piano lines are overlaid with more jagged synth and drum noises to produce an ethereal and yet quite emotive soundscape. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 60 BPM]
Battle drums / war drums / tribal drums. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 75 BPM]
A rousing and foreboding orchestral cinematic track, with a crisp and grand, 'big sky' orchestral sound. A sense of danger, tension and threat, with a more heroic and valiant mid section. Great for amazing journeys, legendary tales, epic footage. Grand and soaring. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 105 BPM]
An understated, darkly pensive, semi-orchestral, cinematic soundtrack with a sense of mystery, danger and ancient cultures. Great as a background for adventure, ethnic/world footage, mysterious worlds, dangerous journeys. [Tempo: Very slow / 0 BPM]
An ominous, dramatic and tension building music track featuring hybrid orchestra, combined with classical orchetra and deep synths. Growing into big, epic trailer music. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 80 BPM]
Electric track with drone type of sound. Dark / Sci-fi etc. [Tempo: Medium / 120 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 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]