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.
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 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]
A dramatic, cinematic track with orchestral instruments and a chamber music arrangement, with close solo strings in combination with a larger orchestral sound. This track has a sense of danger and urgency, like something about to break, or just hanging in the balance. A pivotal moment. A dramatic turn of events. Great for film trailers and book trailers, as well as for dramatic movie scenes. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 90 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]
Low, deep synthetic toms. Spatial effects. Powerful, overdriven percussion. Suitable for noir, laboratory, criminal mysteries. Noir / Crime / Mysteries. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 100 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]
Many moods captured in an epic underscore. Begins with dark march and action-oriented outbursts, with interludes of tragic reflection and heroic themes. Second half is a furious action / march, always with a menacing and dark undertone. Good for medieval battle, attack of the evil empire, blood-soaked battleground. This track was recorded with a real live philharmonic orchestra. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow, Medium / 0 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]
Is this business as usual or a front for an illegal operation? Suspenseful underscore, featuring odd-meter orchestral/electronic rhythmic vamp which gives the feeling of a working process, but at the same time of mischief, something not-quite-right. Good for mystery films and documentaries on crime. Key of D, 104 bpm. [Tempo: Slow / 103 BPM]
In the style of the desert scenes of "Breaking Bad", an ominous, foreboding soundscape of tension and textures. Nice for scenes of suspense and drama. [Tempo: Slow / 77 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]
Abrasive and jarring machine-like rhythmic elements, epic and otherworldly with ominous undertones and rising in intensity. Works great with crime, industrial, steampunk and sci-fi scenes. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 126 BPM]
Edgy electronic music with solid beats, thumping toms and acid sound design. Dark / Dangerous / Power / Edgy / Raw music track. [Tempo: Fast / 135 BPM]
Electronica infused orchestral music. Synth low pulse drives the music with anticipation, joined by low drones and epic percussion. Orchestra comes in and takes the piece to the next level. Good for war preparation, rendezvous scenes, crime investigation and more. Cinematic, Action, War, Crime, Police. [Tempo: Medium / 85 BPM]
Pulsing, steady, rhythmic and ominous music soundscape building with percussion, action-packed sound design and guitars. Hard / Dangerous / Violent / Critical. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 100 BPM]
Atmospheric piano intro growing in epic powerful music and percussive orchestral theme. Dark / Strong / Epic music / Powerful. [Tempo: Slow, Fast / 150 BPM]
Soft, slow and moody with a feeling of intrigue and mystery. Orchestral strings, catchy synth leads and distant synth pulses mix with a spacey trip-hop style rhythm section groove. Contains strings, synths, bass and drums. [Tempo: Slow / 70 BPM]
Tense and pulsating orchestral atmosphere growing in intensity to big finish. Evolving / Majestic / Soaring music track. [Tempo: Medium / 224 BPM]
A slowly rising, epic music track - developing into melodic anthem. Suspenseful, uplifting, orchestral. Amazement / Wonderment music. [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast / 145 BPM]
Dark and suspenseful blockbuster music track starting slowly, and building into epic climax. It has repetitive melody on bells, later brought by brass ensemble. Suitable as music for blockbuster and trailer type videos and commercials. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 115 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]
Dark, tense, underscore with a somewhat Tribal feel. Can be ancient cultures / religions / mystical world history, or Futuristic / Sci-fi / Adventure. Ethereal pads, tribal percussion, mangled synth sounds. Some chanting, war like vocals also join in towards the end. Available with or without the drums, and with or without the vocals. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 105 BPM]
A Percussion Only track, with big pounding drums in various more and less intense patterns. Useful as music for sound design, film scoring, games and more. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 140 BPM]
Cinematic retro synth wave; this track was created using only two vintage hardware synthesizers; a Moog Minimoog model D and a Prophet 5. Strangely futuristic and vintage at the same time. Ambient / Eerie / Synthetic / Retro / Mystery. [Tempo: Medium / 120 BPM]
A mysterious, brooding opening soon gives way to an epic, dark track featuring orchestra, drums and choir. Huge climactic ending - great for trailers. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 95 BPM]
An edgy, dark and dramatic, Cinematic orchestral track with full orchestra, choir and marching drums. Staccato, relentless, powerful, determined. This track was made with an actual live orchestra recording combined with use of samples. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 80 BPM]
Battle drums. Pounding percussion. A combination of orchestral percussion and ethnic / tribal drums. Suitable for battle, fight, chase, brawls and action scenes. [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast / 68 BPM]
A rising, dark cinematic track with a mystery electro vibe. Pulsating arpeggios, fat bass, big synths, pounding drums and soaring female vocals. Full arrangement at 1'54''. Edit points: 0'45'', 1'30''. [Tempo: Medium / 85 BPM]
A weird and quirky track with ambient and tribal/ethnic influences. Slight jungle / tribe feel, mixed with cutting-edge, minimalistic urban and mechanical, even futuristic styles. A slapped bass groove, various textural and experimental sounds and swirley pads. [Tempo: Medium / 97 BPM]
A dark, swirling combination of piano, pulsating strings, electric guitar and synth. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 111 BPM]
Documentary or reality-TV style background music. Very pensive, with a a feeling of urgency, critical situation, danger, urgent investigations, rescue operations, etc. Great for reality shows, investigative journalism, crime reporting and much more. Also good for gameshow with problem solving while time is counting down. [Tempo: Medium / 120 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]
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]
Ominous and tense, semi-orchestral action or sci-fi track. Danger or evil forces. Also suitable as music for TV Reality Drama, crime, accidents, fire or other extreme danger. [Tempo: Slow, Fast / 125 BPM]
Pensive, ominous orchestral film soundtrack. Secret mission, danger, impending hostilities, undercover or covert mission, military build-up, international conflict, serious consequences. The second half of the track has a much busier mood and more percussive production, and can be used for a separate cue, or as part of the main track. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 118 BPM]
Military / Science fiction soundtrack style. A slow, pensive and mysterious opening gives way after a couple of minutes to a pompous, staccato horn stabs and marching snares and all-out battle with horn stabs and fast congas. Sci-fi and battle/chase scenes. Ominous, dramatic, conflict. [Tempo: Medium / 80 BPM]
Dark, ominous and foreboding, semi-orchestral film soundtrack. Mysterious, ominous and threatening, but always restrained and sneaky, this is a great underscore for adventure, mystery, journey, fantasy RPG etc. [Tempo: Slow / 0 BPM]
A swarm of rogue Robots is loose in the city: will our hero save the day? Orchestral, electronic and rock elements build a SciFi atmosphere with dynamic and tension shifts. Good for opening credits or action sequence score. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 123 BPM]
A dark, stressed battle or conflict track. Pulsating, big ethnic percussion, darkly twisted orchestral textures, vocal chants. Danger, tense situation. Rock guitar enters the mix at about 02:40. [Tempo: Medium / 87 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 subtle underscore for film, drama, war/documentary, cultural, historical etc. Has a dark nerve, with a slightly Oriental sounding motif around the 1 minute mark, which is followed by a sorrowful, desolate piano theme and a crescendo at about 2 mins. [Tempo: Slow / 55 BPM]
Spacey, dramatic, hypnotic, cinematic track with building tension and a slight exotic flavour due to use of percussion and eastern scales and instruments. Contains synths, strings, percussion, santoor and acoustic guitar [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 122 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]
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]
Terrifying, thriller, Chase, chilly, nervous tension, sinister, threatening, creepy. Horns, strings, cello, drone, flute, pads, synths. [Tempo: Slow, Fast / 0 BPM]
A feeling of suspense and eerieness. Chase, suspense, urgent, uneasy, tension, anticipation. Sneaky tension. World percussion, strings, horns, synths. [Tempo: Medium / 83 BPM]
An underscore track for use in film, games, and media. Varying intensities of fantasy / adventure background music, good for in-game, in-film, drama, cultural, historical and discovery. Has a sense of dark mystery, exotic mysticism, perhaps ancient dark secrets or undiscovered lands. [Tempo: Slow / 0 BPM]
Dramatic, hypnotic & edgy electro-rock track with great nervous tension and forward momentum. Would suit medical / spy / mystery / thriller type drama projects. [Tempo: Medium / 97 BPM]
A brooding sense of danger that builds to a climax. Heavy brass are aided by stabbing strings and thumping percussion which is great to use as trek music with big landscape shots, in which the bad guys are after the good guys. [Tempo: Medium / 89 BPM]
Impending doom that builds with cinematic awe to a climactic chasm at 01:09. Suspenseful, tense, foreboding, nervous. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 130 BPM]