From their Nettwerk debut EP Remission in 1984 to their 1992 album Last Rights, Skinny Puppy developed into an influential band with a dedicated cult following,[5] fusing elements of industrial, funk, noise, new wave, electro, and rock music and making innovative use of sampling.

Over the course of several tours of North America and Europe in this period, they became known for theatrical, horror-themed live performances and videos, drawing attention to issues such as chemical warfare and animal testing.

[15] The first live Skinny Puppy show was held at the Unovis art gallery in Vancouver in February 1984; the British group Alien Sex Fiend were among the 300 people in attendance.

[19]Having scored a record deal with Nettwerk and with interest surrounding the Back & Forth EP growing, Skinny Puppy was invited to Vancouver's Mushroom Studios to work on new material.

[19] Key and Ogre opened for Chris & Cosey on their 1985 Canadian tour as Hell 'O' Death Day; some of the material the duo had performed would appear on Bites as bonus tracks.

[27] Toronto-based music journalist and DJ Greg Clow recalled Michael Williams, who was a VJ for Muchmusic,[28] introducing him to Skinny Puppy, describing them as "Canada's answer to Depeche Mode.

[29] Capitol manager Stephen Powers stated that signing groups such as Skinny Puppy gave the company "a real credibility" with the alternative and college music scenes.

[43] The group attracted the attention of the Parent Music Resource Center (PMRC), which named Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse one of several albums believed to be "violent, sexually explicit, or condoning substance abuse".

[49] Craig MacInnis of the Toronto Star described their new stage show as "neo-dadaist shock theatre",[51] while Tom Lanham of the San Francisco Chronicle referred to it as "grotesque".

[65][66] The concept for the live show revolved around a vivisectionist (played by Ogre) who is eventually transformed into a tortured animal; the idea was to portray the "inner workings of the mind under the strain of vivisection".

[76] A video produced for the song, featuring spliced-together footage from dozens of horror films and a statement denouncing censorship of the genre by the MPAA, was circulated widely as a promotional and bootleg item.

Key told Alternative Press that "we could very well have a backing tape and stand behind synths playing two notes on the keyboard, but we've decided to physically strain ourselves and learn additional parts along with what we've already written".

[103] Pigface included talent from several other industrial groups such as William Rieflin of Ministry and Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails,[93] who helped record the song "Suck".

[105] In 2003, Alexander Chow of Spin magazine named Too Dark Park an essential industrial album, stating that "schizophrenic beats, manic-depressive mumblings, and just the right dose of fist-raising choruses" made for a dance floor favorite.

[110] Relationships between the band members during the album's production were "tense and unhealthy", with Ogre, under the supervision of Rave, coming into the studio at night to perform vocals for the music Key and Goettel composed earlier in the day.

[119] The stage show for the Last Rights tour in North America, much like the album itself, was built around a detailed narrative inspired by Ogre's past ordeals with drug abuse.

[110][101] The show involved Ogre interacting with a backing film by way of a virtual reality machine, a tree made of human heads and fetuses, and numerous other props and costumes.

[154] Ogre, Key, Mark Walk and various guests, including Danny Carey of Tool and Wayne Static of Static-X,[155] recorded the band's ninth studio album, The Greater Wrong of the Right, released in 2004 on Synthetic Symphony, a sub-label of SPV.

[162] The anti-Bush administration stance taken by the band at their live shows drew the ire of PABAAH (Patriotic Americans Boycotting Anti-American Hollywood), which attempted a boycott of college radio stations that played Skinny Puppy.

[181] The album was released to generally favorable reviews from critics,[182] several noting the 1980s-esque musical style,[183][184] and included a re-hashed version of the Remission-era track "Solvent".

[36][207][208][209] Their extensive use of sampling from horror films and radio broadcasts served to "clarify or obscure" song meanings,[210] and they applied liberal amounts of distortion and other effects to Ogre's vocals,[211] which are often delivered as a stream of consciousness.

[212][213] Lyrics commonly reference social and political subjects including animal rights, environmental degradation,[214] drug addiction,[186] suicide,[215] war,[216] privacy,[217] and self-determination.

[219] Skinny Puppy's often informal, improvisational approach to musical composition is indicated by use of the term "brap", coined by them and defined as a verb meaning "to get together, hook up electronic instruments, get high, and record".

[227] The Village Voice described Skinny Puppy's early work as "dark electro-pop",[228] while Billboard's Bill Coleman thought of them as a "moody techno-outfit" with an "aggravating" musical delivery.

[230] AllMusic referred to Skinny Puppy's music as "primal" and "Kraftwerk gone netherworld", going on to say that unlike the bands that followed in their wake, "Ogre and Key knew how to craft tunes and marry them to the most ingenious of sound patterns".

[236] In a 1987 television interview with Kim Clarke Champniss, Key explained that while Ogre follows a "rough guideline" during a live performance, a majority of his on-stage theatrics are conceived spontaneously.

Their music has spawned "a litter of like-minded bands",[36] including industrial rock project Nine Inch Nails, who opened for Skinny Puppy for a short time on their 1988 VIVIsectVI tour.

[236] The 1996 Video Game Descent II included original music from Ogre and Mark Walk,[305] while the 2014 PlayStation exclusive LittleBigPlanet 3 featured the song "Rodent" from the album Rabies.

[312] Bebber had approached Key to produce the soundtrack, having previously directed several Skinny Puppy videos as well as the short horror film Chunk Blower, which starred Goettel and Bill Leeb of Front Line Assembly.

[316] Scaremeister composed the album 31 Spirits, a collection of short musical pieces which have been used in the trailers of numerous films such as Inglourious Basterds, My Bloody Valentine, and The Book of Eli.