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.
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 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]
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 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 dark, evil and emotive score. Very climatic, brilliant, intense and epic. Available with or without the dramatic choir section. [Tempo: Slow / 64 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]
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 percussion driven track, good for a military march scene. Note: This track starts *very* quietly and grows in a very slow crescendo. You will hardly hear anything until it starts to build up enough volume around 00:30 onwards. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 98 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]
Edgy, orchestral and electronic music mood. Imposing and tense, building throughout. Epic / Futuristic / Powerful music track. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 0 BPM]
A dark and dramatic, tense and uneasy music track for danger and dramatic scenes. This track has an underlying nerve, a building, increasing arrangement that grows into an all-out action track from about 01:15. Intense, fiery, and good music for extreme danger, battle, critical situations and more. This track has a lot of starts, stops and sections, parts and "edit points", making it highly suitable for editing to fit the timing of your own footage. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 120 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]
An edgy, loud, intense and powerful blockbuster royalty free music track featuring a synthesis of orchestra, synths and smashing percussions. Suitable as music for epic videos and powerful footage. [Tempo: Medium / 125 BPM]
A sorrowful, emotional cinematic music. A simple piano melody develops into a full orchestral music track with big drums and emotional strings. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 0 BPM]
Atmospheric piano intro growing in epic powerful music and percussive orchestral theme. Dark / Strong / Epic music / Powerful. [Tempo: Slow, Fast / 150 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]
A tension-filled and mysterious music underscore for action thrillers, spy thrillers, mysteries and crime. Maybe international conflict or criminal investigation. The track makes a lift to a higher intensity level, more orchestral and more intense, from 01:15. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Medium / 80 BPM]
A suspenseful, pulsating music track featuring plucked synths, background guitars, and simple piano melody. Very dramatic and tense mood with a touch of ambient electronica. Elegant / Flowing / Mystical Music. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 85 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: Slow / 0 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]
Someone is being followed as they drive towards their destiny, a final showdown. Orchestra with interesting guitar, synth and percussion layers. Perfect for a modern suspenseful film. The music gets big and epic, yet at times is also smaller in scope, intricate and suspenseful. [Tempo: Medium / 98 BPM]
A dark, brooding piece. It starts with a low synthy bass. The melody is subtle, but grows with each iteration. It builds as it repeats itself. The last section adds a subtle rhythmic element, insinuating a growing nervousness. Perfect for a documentary or horror film/tv show. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 80 BPM]
Tense combination of sound designer sounds with ambient synth textures and a hard hitting techno backdrop. Action, drama, dramatic, chase, crime, police, battle, war, futuristic action and suspense. [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast / 116 BPM]
A gritty and harsh, semi-orchestra, semi-electronic music track with a very edgy futuristic feel. Dramatic and ominous music. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 130 BPM]
Ambient background track with an uneasy, pensive feel. Dark, ominous and threatening, this track suggests danger and death. The track could suit scenes in a graveyard or other dark place, or tense scenes where a character is sneaking around, trying to avoid being caught. Exploring at night, dangers lurking. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 0 BPM]
Sparse, dark and ominous ambient track. Good for film noir, dark thriller, horror, sci-fi or spy mystery. Pensive strings, deep bass, reverberant congas. [Tempo: Slow / 0 BPM]
A gloomy, doom laden, pensive underscore for action thriller, sci-fi, mystery and horror. Nervous, dark ambient, pulsating rhythms and sneaky / suspicious sounds. Serious / Exotic / Mystical. Can be an ethnic place, or general dark / ominous ambience. Also available in a "No Drums" version which has a more ambient / dark background / ethereal feel. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 90 BPM]
A spooky and mysterious cinematic music composition with ever-evolving harmonies and scary vibe, with a tongue-in-cheek / fun mystery vibe. Great for Halloween-related videos, films and projects, magic music and mischief! [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 130 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]
Robert Schumann, Faschingsschwank aus Wien, Op. 26, IV. Intermezzo in E-flat minor. Performed live in studio by renowned concert pianist Vadim Chaimovich, exclusively for Shockwave-Sound.com. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 0 BPM]
Emotional, cinematic action track with a mystical feel in the beginning but escalating to a more dramatic orchestral ending, great for trailers, films, games and TV. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 80 BPM]
A ghoulish groove shrouded in mystery, atmospheric and forward moving. Ideal music for scenes in the sci-fi, horror or mystery genres. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 104 BPM]
A tense and pensive music track with a serious, dark and determined feel. Can be a dark superhero or a macho / strong figure with an edge. Combines electronic and orchestral sounds. This track has several peaks and valleys, giving you great opportunities as music for editing it to fit the events/cues in your own production. [Tempo: Slow / 100 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]
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]
Suspenseful movement. Underlying rhythm with a high-tech feel, understated guitar notes, staccato strings. Building tension. Combination of orchestral and techno soundtrack. Excellent underscore material for thriller, secret mission, secret agent, military or swat team, etc. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 93 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]
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]
Classic dramatic Western style theme. Long shadows over Rio Grande. A hanging at dawn. A lone horseman riding into the sunset. A Mexican woman in distress. Shootout at the O.K. Corral. You get the idea. :) Very cinematic - Great stuff for Westerns, similar to soundtracks by Ennio Morricone. [Tempo: Medium / 75 BPM]