Devin Garrett Townsend (born May 5, 1972 in Vancouver) is a Canadian musician currently residing in British Columbia. His main instruments are guitar and vocals, but he is, as he has shown on his solo album "Infinity", a talented multi-instrumentalist and producer. His solo albums are often hard to categorize but could be described as progressive metal with ambient and industrial influence.

At the age of 19 he joined Steve Vai on his Sex and Religion album and accompanying world tour. He has created several bands/projects, Strapping Young Lad (or SYL) being argueably the most famous of them. Devin originally created a band called Ocean Machine for his album "Biomech". It included Marty Chapman on drums and JR Harder on bass. Later on this album would be published under his own name (while the album name would be renamed to "Ocean Machine: Biomech").

On his Infinity album, Gene Hoglan of Strapping Young Lad handled the drum parts, while Devin did everything else on the album himself. 2000's Physicist was made with the entire Strapping Young Lad line-up. Due to the nature of the band members, this is notably heavier than the rest of Devin's 'solo' work. Devin's 2001 album "Terria" had Hoglan on drums, Craig McFarland on fretless bass and Jamie Meyer on keys.

Later on Devin formed The Devin Townsend Band, as he wanted a more permanent band for his "softer" productions. They have published two albums, Accelerated Evolution and Synchestra. Many fans consider these albums as well to be part of Devin's solo work.

In May 2007, Devin released another solo album under his own name, whereas his previous two albums had been under the name of "The Devin Townsend Band". This album is a comedic concept album called "Ziltoid the Omniscient", which is a story of a 4th dimensional, guitar playing, coffee drinking, alien being named Ziltoid. The entire album is created solely by Devin himself, who plays all of the instruments except the drum parts. In order to create drum parts for the album, Devin used the drum software "Drumkit From Hell" to create electronically sequenced drum tracks. Devin obtained this software from Fredrik Thordendal of Meshuggah.

Devin has also experimented with electronica, initially with the Project EKO EP, which was available as a bonus with the Special Edition of Accelerated Evolution, and more recently with ambient albums such as Devlab and The Hummer.

Devin Townsend has bipolar disorder and had a self-imposed stay in a mental hospital. Devin has also used the disorder theme in the Strapping Young Lad record Alien. The Ziltoid album's special edition tracks includes a segment of audio of Ziltoid describing symptoms of a manic episode.

Townsend produces, either alone or with others, all of his own work. He has also worked with other artists in producing their music. Townsend's work is often very experimental and progressive. Utilizing digital audio tools and multitrack recording processes, Townsend layers sounds, sometimes with several layers of the same instrument, or several layers of his own voice creating a choral effect, often with two or three simultaneous vocal parts. He will frequently lay down a soundbed of atmospheric noise giving a dense "Wall of Sound" effect.

Devin has also been a member of several bands and cancelled projects including Caustic Thought , Byron Stroud's first band that also featured Jed Simon; Vai, with Steve Vai, Terry Bozzio and T.M Stevens - Devin sang the vocals on Sex&Religion album and toured in support of the album worldwide; IR8, with Metallica bassist Jason Newsted, Devin Townsend and Bay Area metal drummer Tom Hunting of Exodus. Devin spent half a year with the British band The Wildhearts.