Bring Me The Horizon‘s Oli Sykes has spoken about how the band were received by the media during their earlier days.

Over the past decade, the Sheffield metal titans have gone on to become one of the most popular bands in British rock. However, according to frontman Sykes, it wasn’t always like that.

Speaking in a recent interview with Kerrang!, Sykes recalled how BMTH were portrayed by the media when they were first gaining popularity.

“Our band was kind of branded as a Mötley Crüe-esque bunch of fucking dickheads,” Sykes said. “One of the first interviews I did, the guy twisted every single word. Things that were said as a joke were put like I was saying it angrily, and it was just a massive shock to me that we were portrayed as these people.

He added: “I thought I was a nice guy, and there were all these magazines that said I wasn’t. It was amazing just how your words could be twisted into something you didn’t mean, and I struggled with that.”

Sykes went on to say that he felt like he became a polarising figure because of the reputation the media painted of him and the band.

“People either painted me as an idol or I was fucking hated,” he said. “You’re the guy on the cover and it’s Photoshopped and put in the best light, but you can never look like that. And you’re also not this horrible, evil person, you’re just a regular person that makes mistakes like everyone else – but no one thinks you’re a regular person. You’re either a cunt or a god. It’s quite a headfuck.”

Despite the negative press, the band overcame the initial trepidation and are now one of the UK’s most successful metal bands. However, Sykes said he feels bad for any new artist trying to come up because of the pressures levied by social media.

“Most labels want you to do skits for TikTok, or be thinking about your social media presence, and that alone is a full-time gig,” he explained. “I can’t imagine what it would be like to be a new artist and have that responsibility. It’s not just making music, you’ve also got to be an actor, almost. I’m watching it with my wife [Alissic] now, and it’s mad.”

Meanwhile, Bring Me The Horizon debuted a new song called ‘Strangers’ in a DJ set at their festival in Malta this weekend.

In a clip posted to Twitter, the British quintet can be seen performing the unreleased track to the audience at the ‘Bring Me The Horizon & Friends’ event, which kicked off yesterday (May 27) and will run for four days at Malta’s Gianpula Village.