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.
Modern rock tune featuring a bass guitar riff and sparse synths with a serious attitude. Dark and mysterious. This track almost has an eerie feel with an infectious groove. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 86 BPM]
Epic, powerful and grand orchestral rock track with many sonic colours that starts quietly and beautifully but gradually builds into a monster as guitars crash in like a tidal wave. Would suit high drama/cinematic projects. [Tempo: Medium / 100 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 / 100 BPM]
A dark and broody hybrid track mixing electronic and orchestral elements. Creates a feeling of tension, darkness and terror. Good for a trailer, drama, crime in progress etc. [Tempo: Medium / 105 BPM]
A melody of spacious strings & soprano voice quickly descend into darkness & mystery. Fantasy, sci-fi, adventure. Perhaps magic or mysterious intrigues. Amazement, wonderment. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 0 BPM]
Quiz show, tension music bed, building up to the name of the winner being announced. The style is reminiscent of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' quiz show or 'The Weakest Link'. Tension building underscore, perfect for revealing who the winner is or whether that cash winning answer is correct. [Tempo: Medium / 112 BPM]
Dark pulse. Evil / Malevolent. Sneaky / Suspicious. Horror / Gothic underscore. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 90 BPM]
A red sun rises on a desolate, war torn city in the middle east. A soldier looks out over the smoke clouds and wonders if the end justifies the means. Epic in scope, yet full of space, would be perfect for travel documentaries requiring a moody atmosphere. Also great for understated, brooding trailers and promos. Orchestra, ethnic instruments (duduk), large percussion and atmospheric pads. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 83 BPM]
Soundtrack / Sci-fi / Space / Fantasy. Understated and a little ominous, this track evokes a subtle sense of being threatened. Could work in dystopian settings or scenes involving suspense or danger. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 110 BPM]
Featuring orchestra, gritty guitar and drums, this cinematic Western-styled piece could be a character study for a Western hero or antihero. Dramatic and epic, this piece could be useful in scenes depicting the conceiving of or execution of a plan (e.g. bank robbery, capturing an outlaw) or for the archetypical ride into the sunset. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 92 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 orchestral hybrid royalty free music cue, the use of 70's / 80's synths in combination with the common orchestra, this piece has a modern Sci-Fi feel with an A-list Hollywood production. The use of orchestral hits throughout this cue gives momentum and pace to any scene, as the piece concludes it ranges in dynamics to give the most dramatic end. Dramatic / Tension / Apocalypse Music. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 120 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]
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 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]
Pattern based 20th Century minimalist music. Surreal, Rhythmic, Underscore, Tension. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 132 BPM]
Tension-filled background music for thriller, suspense and tension. Pulsating synths with percussion. Great for police operation, swat team, crime in progress, stakeout, spy / undercover and more. Besides the main track, this piece also comes as several seamless loops which can be used in combination with each other to 'build' the soundtrack needed for a scene, in a modular way. Simply place the different loops on the timeline, in a way that matches your on-screen action, or blend, combine, crop and join the loop pieces to create your own 'version' of the track. [Tempo: Medium / 100 BPM]
A thrilling cinematic trailer Sting that is epic and intense. It starts with rising orchestral clusters that begin ecalating into massive, terrifying, dramatic impacts that are designed to have your viewrs on the edge of their seat. This would be excellent for trailers, tv, movies and film, promos, bumpers and video games. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 100 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]
Sneaky and darkly pensive underscore for drama or dark mystery. Perhaps crime scene investigation, criminal activity, lurking danger. Suitable for documentary, film score, TV drama or nervous tense moments of reality show etc. Sneaking pads, dark bass undertow, unnerving and twitchy strings. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 0 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]
A slow, brooding warning of trouble ahead. Has a dark mysterious but ominous and unsettled feeling to it. Simple piano lines combine with evolving strings and cool drum loops to make you grimace at what might unfold. [Tempo: Slow / 71 BPM]
A powerful, ominous, epic royalty free music track featuring a pulsating clock, suspense ambience, and uprising force of the orchestra and large mixed choir. Suitable as music for epic and battle scenes. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 80 BPM]
This track was made in electronic style with a slightly oriental atmosphere. Pulsating synth and arpeggiators, Arabian percussion, strings. Will work well as a main theme for the movie in action style about Middle East and Oriental countries. Tense, slightly pensive, dynamic. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 120 BPM]
A gritty, tense and constantly building track with a sudden halt to push towards the next boundary in the middle of this cinematic soundtrack. Suitable for dramatic, edgy and dark story-telling. A raw, dark and intense orchestral soundtrack. (Stem files available.) [Tempo: Fast / 160 BPM]
A mysterious suspense music track, with piano and strings and a more rhythmical second part. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 100 BPM]
A dark dystopian landscape with a driving rhythmic bass, pounding drums and blistering feedback. Resolves at 1:10 with a huge sweeping chord. [Tempo: Medium / 100 BPM]
This track starts with a strong sense of mystery and tension, like there’s a real danger lurking. Huge action drums come in later, bringing the track to a huge conclusion. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 112 BPM]
A short track that tells of darkness and sadness. [Tempo: Medium / 90 BPM]
Mixing orchestral and hip hop elements, this pensive, tense and nervous underscore is the good track for challenge, mystery, thriller, police, stakeout, international conspiracies, countdown, pressure situations. Also good for things like CSI, NCIS, forensics, investigation, looking for clues. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 116 BPM]
A dark, unsettling cinematic backdrop. Uneasy / Gloomy / Mysterious. [Tempo: Slow / 94 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]
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]
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]
This aggressive cinematic piece starts with a chaotic string crescendo, and abruptly changes to a dramatic and forceful orchestral texture. Great for action trailers and sequences. [Tempo: Fast / 143 BPM]
Horror Mystery Soundtrack. Eerie / Insanity / Lost grip of reality / Creepy / Bleak. [Tempo: Slow / 0 BPM]
This horror underscore has hellish overtones and would be well suited for, horror, thriller, or fantasy footgae about paranormal and occult subject matter as well as video-games and trailers. Its' slow, slithery pace has suggests something evil lurking, and makes for a nice tension builder that features an intense, climactic riser. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 0 BPM]
A full on dramatic action track, great for big superhero style trailers, or modern powerful sci fi films. Mixing traditional scoring orchestral elements with modern futuristic glitched style synths, this track is perfect for that big budget trailer sound, or for an epic dramatic action film. [Tempo: Slow / 78 BPM]
A soundtrack for mystery and intrigue. Uneasy stirrings. Suspicion, underlying tension. An elegant mystery theme in classic TV/film style. [Tempo: Medium / 92 BPM]
Energetic percussion/electronic track with impelling synth riffs, huge orchestral drums. Perfect for action films, extreme sports and trailers. [Tempo: Slow, Fast / 120 BPM]
Horror Mystery Soundtrack. Creepy / Presence / Disturbing / Unrestful / Turmoil. [Tempo: Very slow, Slow / 0 BPM]
A high-energy cinematic piece. Its sweeping, soaring and emotional. Featuring live orchestra, mezzo soprano and background choir. A lush orchestral adventure slowly rises to push your scenes towards an epic climax, providing a perfect backdrop for feature film, epic trailer, history documentary and more. This track has multiple variations: with choir, without choir, without percussion as well as just strings mix or percussion mix, allowing you to create your personal, customized soundtrack of any duration. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 80 BPM]
Screeching basses and cellos build up to a musical stab, aided by french horn rip, cymbal crashes and violin clusters. If you want the audience to jump, this is the ideal track. [Tempo: Slow / 0 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]
Epic, big and dramatic music track made with orchestra, epic choir and epic drums. Dark, forceful and awe inspiring. Rising structure / Trailers / Dramatic Music. [Tempo: Medium / 0 BPM]
A dark, orchestral trailer track with a serious, brooding and war-like character. Starts with an eerie "calm before the storm" feel and gradually builds into an epic and intense finale. [Tempo: Slow, Medium / 120 BPM]
Dark, brooding, foreboding & cinematic rock track. A tense, dramatic intro leads to monster riffs and driven drum beats, powering forward with a great sense of sinister, evil energy. Would suit thriller/horror/halloween type projects. [Tempo: Slow, Fast / 146 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]
Tense, building free jazz underscore. Pulsing,hypnotic,and intense low-tempo track,with atmospheric synth sounds and a slow build up. It brings to mind a sense of danger and anticipation. Nice for productions that require a dense, dark and a bit scary backdrop, such as features and TV shows. [Tempo: Medium, Fast / 130 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]
