Skinny Puppy's brooding, sometimes brutal brand of synth-powered menace put them at the bleeding edge of electronic and industrial music in the '80s and beyond. Formed in Vancouver in 1982, the group began as an experimental-minded side project for Kevin Crompton, then a member of synth-pop act Images In Vogue. With the addition of singer Kevin Graham Ogilvie—who soon adopted the name of Nivek Ogre, with Crompton becoming cEvin Key—the music took a harder direction. Early tracks like 1986's "Dig It" anticipated the muscular, machine-age pummelling later delivered by Nine Inch Nails, whose leader, Trent Reznor, cited the band as a key inspiration. Yet for all the other acts they’ve influenced, Skinny Puppy have a unique and terrifying power, thanks to Ogre's growl and Key's dread-filled soundscapes.