Download is a Canadian electronic music group formed by Dwayne Goettel and Kevin Crompton (aka cEvin Key) of Skinny Puppy in 1994. The initial lineup also included, Off & Gone's Phil Western and Mark Spybey of Dead Voices on Air, but has since been particularly fluid, with Key and Western being the only constant members following Goettel's death. Download's music has been described as post-industrial, drawing from the band's genesis as part of Skinny Puppy but also sharing common stylistic ground with such artists as Aphex Twin and Autechre. The primary instrumentation common throughout their albums is a blend of synthesizers and sampled instruments; the music is particularly centered on the elements of percussion and rhythm.

Other artists that have been involved are Genesis P. Orridge, Anthony Valcic, Bill Van Rooy, and Ken Marshall. Earlier releases frequently included vocal elements and lyrics, but since III (and Mark Spybey's departure in 1996) their work has been strictly instrumental.

As tensions within Skinny Puppy began to mount in the early nineties, band members Dwayne Goettel and cEvin Key began experimenting with musical improvisations that they felt were more true to their "roots". Early on, the duo brought in Mark Spybey who Key had met in Vancouver some years previous through Spybey's involvement with Zoviet France. The name for the band came from the last track on Skinny Puppy's album Last Rights, an especially abstract track for the band produced by Goettel and Anthony Valcic.

In the first era of Download's career, the band's sound was an Experimental Industrial style which featured vocals by Mark Spybey and guest vocals by Genesis P. Orridge. Their first LP, Furnace, was arguably their least accessible — most of the tracks lasted for over four minutes, some lasting as long as nine minutes. Their next release, the Microscopic EP continued this style. It featured three remixes of tracks from Furnace (only one of which was remixed by the band itself, the other two were remixed by Biosphere and Newt), along with five original tracks.

Charlie's Family was another experimental industrial LP by Download, except this LP was a soundtrack to the movie of the same name, and it had significantly different sound than the previous two releases. Instead of the beat-oriented music that dominated Furnace and Microscopic, this LP's music was mostly dominated by a simple beat along with many samples of anything from women orgasming to airplanes taking off.

The Eyes of Stanley Pain, arguably Download's most diverse-sounding and accessible industrial album, was released in 1996. It spanned 14 tracks, most of which were about four or five minutes long. The only exceptions were the tracks "Glassblower" and "Collision", which were 3:02 and 10:38, respectively. Later that year, the EP Sidewinder was released by the band. In the same vein as their first EP - Microscopic - it contained eight tracks, of which four were remixes. Three were remixes by Download of songs from The Eyes of Stanley Pain, and one was a remix of the song "Attalal" from Furnace by the band Haujobb (although the packaging of Sidewinder spells it "Attallal"). The other four songs were original songs recorded by Download, and the last of Download's post-industrial era.

III marked a turning point for Download. Their sound became more melodic and accessible while still retaining the experimental quirks of their older material. Their next album Effector continued this direction and peaked at #12 on the CMJ RPM Charts in the U.S.

Two more albums, III Steps Forward and Inception were released as part of Subconscious Studio's From The Vault series. Inception contained outtakes from Download's more experimental early era, while III Steps Forward included outtakes from the III and Effector eras as well as new tracks. Although the original pressing of each was limited to 1000 copies, 2nd pressing editions are currently available from Subconscious Studio's website.