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.
Huge, wide-ranging score of epic proportion - last warrior on a blood-soaked battlefield pulls himself out of the mire only to discover that he is the last man standing. He gathers his strength and returns to his village in triumph but with a broken spirit. This score contains mystical elements, bombastic outbursts, scenes of total destruction and unimaginable tragedy and despair, with a driving rhythmic second half building to a heroic climax and eerily subdued final resolution. Good for epic battle, blood-soaked battleground, action/adventure. This track is recorded with a real live philharmonic orchestra. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 0 BPM]
Spacey, tripped out, dazed and yet with innate momentum and drive. Soundtrack to a midnight sleepwalk in a big city. Contains piano, synths , bass and drums. [Tempo: Medium / 112 BPM]
Energetic percussion opens the track, soon replaced with an epic, heroic melody performed by orchestra and choir. Music grows in intensity. Final section soars with high stings and climaxes with a patriotic, militaristic heroic melody. [Tempo: Medium / 140 BPM]
Action oriented hybrid orchestral track, with a lot of metallic percussion and powerful blasts. Starts off with distorted electronic percussion and mystery strings, then develops into a powerful tense motif. Good for spy, military, invasion and high octane action. [Tempo: Medium / 110 BPM]
Opening with a simple ambient piano motif, this track soon explodes into a dark, passion fuelled combination of distorted guitars and driving percussion - Dramatic / Aggressive / Futuristic. [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast / 110 BPM]
Slow brush drums hitting softly with distorted long sounds and some scary sounds. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 60 BPM]
Brooding and ominous, this dark tension & horror track grows from a quiet drone and builds to an intense atonal conclusion. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast, Very fast / 0 BPM]
A sneaky and creepy semi-orchestral soundtrack piece. Twitchy and nervous strings, scattered piano notes, metal clanks, subtle pulsating rhythms. Suitable for horror/scifi as well as for documentary, forensics, murder investigation etc. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 96 BPM]
Dramatic and mysterious piano, accompanied by harp and strings. Inspired by soap opera music cliches. [Tempo: Medium / 0 BPM]
Beginning with a dark and eerie bass drone filled with suspense and intrigue and accompanied by old west style guitar licks, this down-tempo trip hop trickle evolves into a full scale torrent of aggressive, slamming rock guitar driven mayhem. Ideal for gaming - especially cut scenes - but also great for use in extreme sports and advertising. The tension rises... this can only end one way! [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 58 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]
A dynamic and evolving orchestral track. Full of twists and turns - darkness and danger turns to light and enchantment. [Tempo: Medium / 120 BPM]
A stormful, staccato, orchestral / cinematic piece for drama, tv, documentaries, period drama, nature and more. Urgent, active, dramatic, turmoil. [Tempo: Fast / 180 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: Fast, Very fast / 100 BPM]
Rise to the challenge! Dramatic hits, risers, and staccato strings give this track weight and intensity as it builds to its climax. [Tempo: Slow / 0 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]
A dystopic soundtrack. Starts with a simple bass pulse, and builds slowly to a high intensity with manipulated brass sounds and various other alien sounding synths. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 120 BPM]
A contemporary orchestral film score / cinematic track with a sense of danger and unease. Staccato rhythm. Turmoil / Agitation / Urgency. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 144 BPM]
Orchestra starts small, adding a touch of tension and uncertainty, but soon builds to an inspiring punchy melody. A soaring heroic horn melody comes in after a while, and carries us through to a big ending. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 75 BPM]
A dark, foreboding, gloomy, orchestral cinematic / soundtrack piece. A sense of slow forward movment or progress. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 120 BPM]
Sinister, disturbing track full of malevolence and high tension. Trancey bass and drums begin to creep towards you with evil intent... [Tempo: Fast / 124 BPM]
A dark and edgy piece with a sense of foreboding and ominous forces. A pulsating deep rhythm with strings, brass and occasional gothic choir chants, like from an occult séance or a dark ritual. Mystical / Tense / Occult / Horror / Creepy / Gritty / Shocking. [Tempo: Slow / 90 BPM]
A strong, confident and dark heroic military theme with percussion, synth, guitar and powerful brass. Slow paced, proud, patriotic and powerful yet slightly sad and emotional giving a feeling of loss or death. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 65 BPM]
This string-focused track takes the listener on a journey - danger/apprehension felt throughout, with hints of hope. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 120 BPM]
Suitable for modern thrillers, this track features atmospheric and tense layers, orchestra, drums and synth. The tension mounts, with the drama intensifying towards the climactic ending. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 84 BPM]
A Percussion Only track, with marching snares, military march. Occasional big drum strikes. Useful for scenes of battle, chase, urgency, action. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 0 BPM]
An evil, Far East / Oriental style 'bad guy' theme that moves slowly, but threateningly to create a sense of anxiety. The Erhu is backed by a deep chanting male choir, drums and tense strings. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 0 BPM]
A sharp hit begins this brooding, sinister horror track, which features suspenseful, ambient synth swells and atmospheric string effects. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 55 BPM]
Pulsating low bass, rhythmic low percussion toms. Merging the aesthetics of tension with trailer music elements. Conveys a sense of threat, uncertainty, and horror. Suitable for dystopian sci-fi, action thrillers, crime dramas, spy / undercover agent, military operations or horror movie trailers. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Medium / 100 BPM]
This is a film soundtrack with an epic vibe. Orchestral arrangement with a lot of tension and energy. Ideal for war, battle and fight themed films with a brooding feel. Emotional and Heroic feelings that bring a lot of inspiration to the listener. [Tempo: Medium / 84 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]
A dark, unsettling cinematic backdrop. Uneasy / Gloomy / Mysterious. [Tempo: Slow / 94 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]
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]
Staccato and nervous, orchestral tension underscore. Undercover, dangerous mission. Few French horns notes mixed with symphonic elements and a pulsating rhytmic backdrop. Movement, getting into position, primed and ready for action. Great for spy, mystery, thriller, crime, secret mission, military. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 97 BPM]
Dark and disturbing, horror underscore. Dark sound design with twitchy musical elements. Sickly / Confused / In disarray. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 90 BPM]
Edgy electronic underscore, with a feeling of urgency and danger. Complex and intricate but un-intrusive. [Tempo: Medium / 130 BPM]
An intense epic action cue that starts mysterious and builds to full out action with driving percussion rhythms, orchestral energy, and big drums, underscoring anything from a fast car chase 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 / 138 BPM]
A big epic and dynamic edgy action music for movie trailers, or dramatic action films. Hard hitting orchestral lines fuse with modern digital technology in a great piece of Hybrid powerful action music! [Tempo: Slow, Medium, Fast / 148 BPM]
Intense drama themed piece that uses driving percussion and urgent strings to full effect. It relentlessly builds to a dramatic conclusion.
[Tempo: Medium, Fast / 130 BPM]A dark, ambient track that showcases atmospheric synths and a short but intense percussion build at the end. For horror films or thrillers. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 67 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]
Dark and mysterious Score track with strings, horn section, sound effects and energetic percussions. Very atmospheric, dramatic and highly diversified. Ideal for thriller and all kinds of suspense. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 165 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: Slow, Medium / 150 BPM]
A lively, ominous and busy music track with a dark atmosphere, made only with orchestral instruments. The structure is divided into several parts, all connected and in the same mood. Bustling / Tension / Drama Music. [Tempo: Medium / 60 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: Slow, Medium / 150 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 / 105 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]
Dramatic and Escalating Cinematic Action track featuring orchestral strings, percussion, synth pads and sound effects. Great for trailers, films in action and drama genres, Police / Investigation TV series and more. [Tempo: Medium / 90 BPM]
Ominous and tense. Orchestra, drums and haunting textures build suspense throughout. [Tempo: Medium / 156 BPM]
