Royalty Free Dark / Somber Music

It all depends on how you're feeling. On the one hand, this is a deep, soul searching soundscape of profound, inner vibrations - an electronic soup of slowly evolving tones, drones and unresolved mutations that leads you to mysterious places and intriguing discovery, safe in the knowledge that at this pace, you'll have the time to fall into it's myriad hypnotic states. On the other hand, it's the soundtrack to your worst, most isolated horror nightmares and the darkest, creepiest underworld you never want to visit. The choice is yours - it's just a question of context.

A mysterious, scary ambient orchestral track with a strings section crescendo, celeste fills and haunting female chorals

Deeply reflective piano piece with a calm, minimalist approach. Not a lot of notes, but a lot of rich ambience, diverse emotions and mood from shimmering overtones and swathes of reverb - simplicity and soul-searching would be the only key words for this one. And maybe remorse. And a little hope. And solitude. And peaceful mystery. And I should stop now.

Electronic horror-themed track with arpeggiated keyboard, underlying light trap beat and synth pulses

Cinematic hybrid track with an ever shifting mood. Starting gently with strings and horns, it gives an impression of mellow reflection which soon turns more sinister with the introduction of bolder brass and timpani. It turns once again, with solo violin making a yearning, mournful appearance over string ostinato before becoming more rock styled through a prominent electric bass line and percussive beat. With the suspense and intensity building, the string melody becomes dominant, spearheading the epic final assault and resulting in a piece that delivers drama, mystery and contrast.

Hopefully no-one tries listening to this on a cheap phone speaker or $1 headphones - the majority of it just won't be there. That's because, like all the best sounds, it's all about the bass. This ancient solfeggio frequency of 69.3 Hz is the lowest and lesser-known tone and is supposed to act as a resonance deepener. Mixing lush, soothing tones and ethereal sounds with the richness of the almost rumbling bass gives off a warm, comforting vibe of spiritual contentment, sure to soothe and invigorate in equal measure.

Atmospheric and rhythmic pop rock. Using a melodic piano theme as the central hook, and continuously enhancing it with percussion, bass, electric guitars and synth pads, the piece builds in intensity and energy to create a dramatic mid-tempo background track that captures a spirit of determination, motivation and suspense, contrasting a slightly dark, cinematic side with a more heroic one.

A dark and cinematic prog-rock theme, with a classic old school feel. Starting simply with repeated single guitar notes, an acoustic guitar melody builds the tension towards the entry of the sparse and spacious drum beat and booming bass line. Just a simple theme, but a gritty, mysterious and brooding theme with a hint of Americana and Westerns, successfully accomplished in 40 seconds.

A light acoustic track with ghostly theremin synth lead and arpeggiated acoustic guitar. Builds up only slightly through added piano and percussion. A little dark and mysterious in feeling, with hints of optimism.

Minimalist neo classical track, featuring piano and violin. A soft arpeggiated piano intro lays the bed for a whistful solo violin entry, full of yearning and reflection. Interpersed with pizzicato, it's the violin that sings the song over the ever constant piano accompaniment, creating a feeling of suspense, wonder and fragility. A dark piece full of intrigue.

A soft, melancholic acoustic track, featuring guitar, piano and strings. Opening with arpeggiated guitar accompanying a simple, yearning melody, the piece plays on the theme as it builds with piano and eventually the legato strings to solidify the overall ambience of regret. Bittersweet in its mood, with lots of question/answer phrasing, the piece is a thoughtful study of a traumatised mind.

Smooth, unfussy track about the difficulties of relationships. Urban overtones with a simple, retro lo-fi feel, its calming mood is reassuring and slightly sinister in equal parts, the sleepy vibe juxtaposing the pent up angst of broken and rekindled love. Male vocals provide the melodic hooks, male spoken vocals provide the heartfelt sentiments, all to a backdrop of cool beats, melodic hits and atmospheric guitar swamped in reverb.

A mystifying mix of styles, instruments and languages. Hypnotic and psychedelic in a trip hop style, with a cinematic arthouse flavour nodding to the bizarre, there is a constant progression and evolution that captivates and envelopes the listener. Using melodica melodies for an eerie fun, futuristic theremin for a sci-fi wierdness and random sound effects to unsettle, there's arpeggiated classical guitar and funk bass for a taste of the traditional familiar, as well as vibraphone, chimes, and piano to sprinkle their charm over the spectrum of diversity. Add in intimate and agonised vocals and you have the complete recipe for a journey into a weird and wonderful world.

Rich and calm cinematic track with a dramatic cutting edge. Exploring a single theme by layering different instrumentation and rhythms, it features acoustic fingerpicked guitar to set the mood, adding percussive hits, drones and ethnic vocal chants to ramp up the intensity over an atmospheric bed of airy tension. Full of dreamlike beauty with an uplifting sense of the epic about it.  

A cutting-edge dubstep track featuring brutal saw bass sounds, chopped beats and synthetic textures

Hollow and desperate piano instrumental, epitomising loneliness and helplessness. Slow, methodical piano meanders throughout, searching for a theme, enhanced by electro sound design elements that reinforce the sound of empty space. Not a piece that's going to brighten your day, unless you've been searching for the perfect accompaniment to your solitude and loss of hope.

Emotionally sombre piano track based on a simple chord progression. Hauntingly sorrowful, deeply pensive and openly honest, it's a slow moving composition that builds beautifully with elegant strings to reveal a deeper and more involved sound. Calming, but undeniably sad.

Lingering soundscape using rich synth swells like a drawn out pulse and higher pitched elements to enhance the esoteric sonic ambience. Simple, but rhythmically hypnotic and hauntingly mysterious.

Melodic percussion set to a mysterious ambient soundtrack. With a strong gamelan influence, it certainly has an ethnic feel to it, but mixed with a cinematic piano releasing deep overtones and soaked in reverb it takes on a more modern feel. Light, gentle and calming, with a sense of tension and suspense, it is rhythmically steady and continuously moving forward.

Dirty dubstep, smashed up with industrial percussion, robotic vocals and punching basslines. Kind of sleazy in a heavy electronic way, but not without a certain playfulness in the warped vocals, and verging on experimental with its chopped, dropped in, dropped out mannerisms. A real hyped up future beat.