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 hybrid orchestral track with a sense of evil and malevolence. Grows and increases throughout. Builds up to a climax around 01:35 and ends with some heavy pounding and a return to the original horror mystery piano motif. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 65 BPM]
An impactful orchestral cinematic track with a grand and pompous orchestra sound. A sense of danger, tension, threat and urgency, with occasional battle- or chase type drums. Urgent and heroic. [Tempo: Medium, Fast, Very fast / 124 BPM]
High-intensity, electronic film trailer music, with strong, unrelenting bass and drum tracks and an ever-building array of orchestral instruments. The grand instrumentation and driving energy provide a clear sense of urgency that climbs until the very final moments of the piece. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 90 BPM]
A tense and gritty electronic / industrial music track with a sense of danger and urgency. A dire situation, code red, time running out, impending chaos. Deliberately dirty, uneasy, stressed music. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 75 BPM]
Electronica infused orchestral music. Tension builds throughout the piece, ending with a big boom, but retaining a somewhat anticipative aura. Good music for war preparation, rendezvous scenes and crime investigation and chase. [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: Slow, Medium / 102 BPM]
A contemporary, cinematic music track with an intriguing and captivating vibe. Featuring piano, strings, glockenspiel, atmospheric pads and orchestral percussion. Great for dynamic action scenes in films, TV and documentaries. [Tempo: Medium / 125 BPM]
New classical music for film, drama, TV, and storytelling. Piano with light orchestra. Thoughtful / Questioning / Story developing. Great background music for scenes of work, progress, movement, information flow. Detective work, information coming to light, a mystery being unfolded. [Tempo: Medium / 108 BPM]
Dark, eerie, ethereal, spacious, creepy, moody, thoughtful, slightly menacing electronic track with a slow groove & a sense of foreboding. Hypnotic, cool, smooth & haunting. Would suit mystery / crime / documentary / Halloween / horror type projects. [Tempo: Slow / 79 BPM]
Electronic percussion and eerie electric piano melodies generate an atmosphere of tension and suspense. The mystery thickens and new sound layers are added in a dramatic, hypnotic crescendo with a few stops, perfect for edit points. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 88 BPM]
Nervous action / thriller underscore. Stakeout, movement, urgency, ticking bomb. This track has a strong and tense nerve, as if everthing is going to blow at any second. Good tension, helped by severely distorted synths and guitars mixed in with the semi-orchestral textures. [Tempo: Medium / 130 BPM]
Foreboding and eerie, dark and mystical, ambient track with an Ethnic / World mystery feel. Wailing ethnic vocal with tribal percussion joining in later. Edgy and musky. Threatening, dark tribe - perhaps vikings, indigenous tribe or tribal warriors. [Tempo: Medium / 117 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]
Orchestral hits and numerous rises and falls make this a dramatic track that tells a story. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 125 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]
This string-focused track takes the listener on a journey - danger/apprehension felt throughout, with hints of hope. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 120 BPM]
Heavy percussion, accented strings, blasting brass and dark synths give this track a dramatic, futuristic vibe. Intended for epic promos, video games, sports, trailer and dramatic radio cues. Also ideal for turmoil, tension and struggle in reality TV shows like Celebrity Apprentice, The Ultimate Fighter, Survivor, Fear Factor and The Bachelor. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 135 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]
A foreboding and tension-building music track combining Cinematic and Electronic elements, using a blend of synths and symphonic sounds combined. Suitable for mystery and dramatic scenes. Awe / Amazement / Mystery / Drama / Darkness Music. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 80 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]
Disturbing and dramatic piece uses all new sounds and textures. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 112 BPM]
Dramatic and mystical film score/soundtrack made with orchestra and synths. Spy / Mystery / Crime / Action Music. [Tempo: Medium / 100 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 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, Fast, Very fast / 150 BPM]
Powerful trailer style music track starting as a deep sub hit and pulsating bass engine. It slowly rises into a huge blockbuster track featuring big orchestra with determined string section, and wide horns and trombones. Suitable as music for action blockbusters and trailer videos. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 100 BPM]
Slow spacey rocker. starts slow and sleazy and gains in intensity And emotion as it progresses. Lots of cool guitar licks and lush sounds. Think Jeff Beck meets satriani at Steve Lukather's barbecue. Contains guitars, bass , drums and keyboards. [Tempo: Slow / 117 BPM]
Dark ambient, Horror underscore. Mysterious / Creepy / Echoey / Haunting [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 80 BPM]
An intensely ominous electronic/orchestral soundscape supports a brooding, haunting theme; overwhelmed with darkness and fear, this track is destined for moody scenes of terror and horror in contemporary cinema... For underscore and build-up. Instrumental, Dangerous Music, Dark Music. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 120 BPM]
A tense and simmering action / danger track with a combination of orchestral and electronic elements. Dangerous, Mysterious, Tension. Can be a great soundtrack for dangerous missions, tense operations, spy and undercover agents, simmering danger or conflict, crime, or undercover operationns. An element of Hip-Hop / Trap drums is added towards the end to give it a slightly urban edge. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Medium / 99 BPM]
Ominous synths with pounding drums set the scene, while solo violin creates a lyrical and emotional mood. Huge brass section enters at 0:55 to create a massive sounding theme along with violins and booming crunchy drums. Epic in every sense - good for a movie trailer. [Tempo: Slow / 125 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]
Music with a hurried, urgent, active and bustling feel. Rush, chase, stress, high activity level. Time running out, things being done in a hurry. Neo-classical music, orchestra with piano. [Tempo: Fast, Very fast / 136 BPM]
Jazzy, abstract intro. Grows in intensity as it goes along, and introduces new elements. Works well as an intro to something with high expectation. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 160 BPM]
A pulsating, tension building music track, featuring piano chord progression, ambience synths, and epic orchestra sound. Powerfully rising into a big, epic music track. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 100 BPM]
Haunting harp and solo violin harmonics create a cold world. Unnerving cimbalom and tremolo strings add foreboding as build to a dark climax. Perfect for a murder mystery. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 100 BPM]
This track starts with a nervously pulsating rhythm and sorrowful, wailing ethnic strings, before it erupts into a majestic, powerful and dramatic, slow march with full orchestra and choir. Pompous, menacing, awe inspiring. A quiet epilogue follows with ethnic / mysterious strings. Slightly middle eastern feel. World mystery / ethnic drama etc. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 120 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 / 9 BPM]
A strong, powerful, menacing, epic filmscore track. Symphonic orchestra and choir mixed with techno/industrial elements to create a feel of futuristic or modern warfare, mechanoids, space battle, transformers fighting, brawling or stand-off. Suitable for future / sci-fi / metal and glass, fire and destruction, dramatic trailers, battle / chase / conflict / war scenes. Also available as a Rock Mix with added power guitars and rock drums, and as an alternative version without the choir. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 123 BPM]
A dark, dramatic, and rousing orchestral music track with a feel of war or conflict. The dark, gloomy and determined character of this track will give your project an epic, tense feel. Angry / Doom / Epic Music. [Tempo: Medium / 120 BPM]
A dark, ominous and dramatic film underscore music using a combination of electronic and orchestral elements. This track starts out sneaky and foreboding with staccato synth pattern and grows over time, gradually building up the intensity towards a climax at about 1:26. An element of mystery, conspiracy and intrigue. A very serious tone which sets the scene for crime, thriller, spy movie/game etc. [Tempo: Slow / 155 BPM]
Starts with an ominous repetitive low horn blow, and builds up towards a full orchestral and choir theme. Dark and powerful trailer music, inspired by mind bending, psychological and twisted up sci-fi action thrillers. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 100 BPM]
A mix of orchestral and electronic elements creates a beautiful tension. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 92 BPM]
A mixture of electronic synths, percussion and strings are used to generate a sense of risk. The continuous pulsating guitar, heavy percussive hits, low piano notes and high string trills create an apprehensive mood, making this ideal for game shows with elimination rounds. [Tempo: Slow / 64 BPM]
Hard-hitting, relentless hybrid industrial trailer royalty free music track leading to a victorious crescendo. Tense, atmospheric intro builds with epic hits and sound design to synth motif from 1'00'' and distorted riff from 1'34". [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 85 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, Fast / 0 BPM]
A rather dark and ominous amazement / drama track. Chanting choir, stabbing brass and percussion, a sinister undertone tells of perhaps religious rituals, cult, majestic uprising, dark magic or sacrifice, determined evil powers gathering. Dark history, mystery, mythology. Foreboding, threatening. [Tempo: Medium / 83 BPM]
Tension building music track starting as a suspense atmosphere featuring simple piano melody. Rising into a big hybrid cinematic track in modern expression. Pulsating and dramatic music. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 100 BPM]
A dark, sneaky, and malevolent sounding underscore for sci-fi, mystery and horror. For the most part dark ambient, but two sections 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]
A series of 4 pieces of textural, ambient, musical soundscapes. Suitable for documentary, cultural, history, archeology, travel and exploration, mystery and more. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 0 BPM]
Atmospheric, spacey, slightly dark rock track with electronic elements and orchestra strings. Build-up towards the climax at 2:20. Conflict, Police / Agent, Undercover operation, Military operation etc. Futuristic / edgy / determined / science feel. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 160 BPM]