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.
Inspired by 80's sci-fi and horror films revived today by Stranger Things. Ominous blend of synthesizers and orchestral tones, with a repetitive tense motif. Cinematic, Thriller, Suspense, Terror, Sci-Fi, Retro. [Tempo: Slow / 84 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]
Big, rugged action track, with mystery. Evokes a feeling of a inspired group marching toward a common goal. Also good for crime / crime in progress / criminal investigation, etc. Features large Epic Percussion. [Tempo: Medium / 120 BPM]
A tense, rhythmic, staccato track for secret missions and high pressure situations. [Tempo: Medium / 125 BPM]
Bold, percussion focused underscore with electronic and percussive elements. Dark, pensive and suspenseful soundscapes. Lazy Moog Lead. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 130 BPM]
Tense and cinematic, featuring eerie piano over a menacing synth pads, strings and military snare creates a mood of intense fear and suspense. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 130 BPM]
Rising and mysterious track featuring tense strings, swelling brass lines, electronic textures, piano and sparse punchy percussion. Mystical X-Files / Marvel feel. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 100 BPM]
Orchestra underscore. Cello and bass synth drive pace with piano, forboding brass and string lines. Espionage, spy theme feel. Crime, mystery, investigation. Dark, edgy. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 120 BPM]
Crime, drama underscore - eerie and dark with distorted undertones, bit crushed bass and piano. Uncomfortable and Tense. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 128 BPM]
An epic music track with a dark atmosphere and uprising mood. The track opens with a dark analog synth, layered with moody piano notes and effects. Cinematic strings and taiko drums help build tension to the main reveal. The main part of the track explodes with huge distorted drums, a call to action melody and epic string section. Suitable as music for video game and movie trailers, action scenes, scenes of battle or hero struggle. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 155 BPM]
A dark and pulsating blockbuster track, combining synth sounds with orchestral music. Suitable for movie scenes, thrillers, blockbusters, intense scenes and epic material. Cinematic / Heroic music / Amazement. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 125 BPM]
A slowly rising, epic music track - developing into melodic anthem. Suspenseful, uplifting, orchestral. Amazement / Wonderment music. [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast / 145 BPM]
An atmospheric, eerie and dramatic music track with a hybrid orchestral / electronic production. Space / Sci-fi / Future / Dramatic Music. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 120 BPM]
A dark, cold and evil, orchestral soundtrack influenced by classic horror movies. Sneaky, then violent. Foreboding, then murderous. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 60 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]
A dark, gloomy and dramatic soundtrack, telling of extreme danger or a grave situation. Systematically pounding percussion gives the sense of an overwhelming force, while increasing strings build the tension ever higher. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 80 BPM]
A very dark horror / sci-fi sound design track. Ominous, threatening, gloomy, malevolent. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 0 BPM]
Aggressive and dark music track made with epic hits, risers, synths and more. Will suit as music for sci-fi projects, post apocalyptic and dark footage, trailers and teasers that need a punchy, gritty, in-your-face sound design. [Tempo: Medium / 120 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]
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]
An epic, cinematic instrumental piece. Tension builds from the beginning as heavy, stabbing electronic sounds pulse and grow into a driving electronic/orchestral groove near the end. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 0 BPM]
A moody and exotic music track with tension and suspense. Dark and alluring, with a sense of impending danger or doom. Ethnic world / Exotic / Foreign feel / Middle Eastern influence. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Medium / 85 BPM]
A mystical soundtrack with a slightly psychedelic or otherworldly feel, like a feeling that something is not right. Deliberately somewhat off-key, to give you that slightly queasy or uneasy feeling. A nice track for murder mystery, paranormal activity, crime and detective work, eerie film noir, etc. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Slow / 95 BPM]
A neoclassical and cinematic drama piece created for strings with orchestra. This track builds up gradually and has a sense of impending doom. Approaching danger. Turmoil building up. Raw chamber strings hammer away relentlessly into the storm, on a backdrop of edgy and dark orchestral sounds, with a ticking clock, as if to warm that time is running out. Also available without the ticking clock effect. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 100 BPM]
Action build-up / Gear-up / Hollywood action/tech/scifi. A pensive and at times grand, heroic orchestral film soundtrack piece which blends electronic instruments and symphony orchestra for a technology / futuristic feel. This rather long track goes through various stages, some of which are pensive and foreboding, others more heroic, more regal and grand. This track will go well with any high-tech / sci-fi / war- or action film. (A note about the version described as 'Stage Mix': This version is recorded with the reverb/ambiance of a concert hall, making it sound somewhat more 'distant' from the listener and, some would say, more 'live') [Tempo: Medium / 61 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]
The title says it all, really, this is a film soundtrack / film mood underscore with a very suspenseful nerve, in fully orchestral / symphonic arrangement. Good for thriller, horror, suspense, fantasy, Halloween, etc. [Tempo: Slow / 0 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]
This track has an eerie mood, yet still suggesting hints of something whmsical, and perhaps mischievous. It would be well suited for footage and video games about horror, fantasy and paranormal subject matter. [Tempo: Slow / 134 BPM]
A dramatic, building trailer track made with cinematic orchestra and percussion. Structure divided into three main parts for easier editing (trailer structure). Proud / Patriotic / Dramatic. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 115 BPM]
An epic blockbuster track featuring suspense orchestra combined with big risers and trailer impacts. Suitable music for epic trailers and powerful, high impact footage. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 90 BPM]
Dark, cinematic and light suspenseful music track made with chamber orchestra. No divided parts. Dark / Spooky / Eerie / Quirky music. [Tempo: Medium / 145 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]
Dark and pulsating tension underscore. Intense rhythmic nerve. A sense of danger, risk, and urgency. Malevolent / Anxious / Dangerous. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Medium / 87 BPM]
A very dark and disturbing tension bed, featuring a pulsating, tense rhythmic beat, way dark pads and a sickly, disturbing cacophony of eerie drones and noises. Suitable for horror, mystery, thriller, crime and more. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Medium / 85 BPM]
This cue is eerie and haunting with an epic and ominous, cinematic tone. It has a distinct mood that would be excellent in sci fi, espionage and projects requiring a hi tech cinema score. It features strings brass and cinematic percussion, synthesizers and action packed impacts and would make excellent a opening title, cinematic underscore or futuristic film trailer. It fuses influences from composers such as Hans Zimmer and John Powel and versatile enough to work in horror, suspense, psychological thrillers or video calling for a cue with a tense and mysterious nature. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 140 BPM]
This orchestral cinematic cue contains two parts/sections. The first 30 seconds has a strong tension and a rhythmic pulse, with a foreboding, dark tone. The second part, from about 30 seconds onwards, is more melancholic, sorrowful and wistful, with a sense of loss or realization. [Tempo: Slow / 90 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]
An orchestral, cinematic track filled with drama and heroic action, and with a 'big sky' orchestral production suitable for Hollywood movies. Valiant / Hero / Amazement / Grandeur / Fantasy. The action picks up from around 30 seconds in. [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast / 140 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]
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]
A building and pounding action cue with driving percussion rhythms, orchestral energy, and big drums, underscoring anything from a heist getaway to a battle between man and machine. Very much in the vein of John Powell's "Bourne" movies and the scores of Hanz Zimmer and Steve Jablonsky ("Batman Begins" and "Transformers"). [Tempo: Fast / 75 BPM]
Primal and raw battle drums with battle chants. A historical or pre-historical sound of perhaps Vikings or Tribal warlords. Savages, Barbarians, Brutal warriors. Marching or maybe preparing for battle. Strong, menacing, foreboding. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 144 BPM]
A gritty, semi-industrial Hybrid action music track, with a dark, violent edge and a rough, doom laden feel. Hard, edgy, danger, tension music. [Tempo: Medium / 90 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]
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 dark, atmospheric and mystical music track made in an orchestral arrangement. In the style of Lord of the Rings or the darker parts of Harry Potter, this piece is suitable as music for a dark fantasy adventure project, whether it is a game or a movie. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 100 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 slow opening emotional cinematic music track with a simple piano melody and a large string ensamble orchestration. Minimal drums and analog sub bass give this track a modern feel, while orchestral elements bring a sense of an epic crescendo. Great music for motivational videos, emotional trailer or investigation / mystery / crime. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 130 BPM]
Underlying tension. A dark and creepy underscore track for horror or dark drama, criminal documentary or crime scene investigation. What gruesome discovery lies behind the next turn? A nervous, pensive background track. Clanky percussion, deep drones and a serious, tense undertow. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 115 BPM]