Oli Sykes says Bring Me The Horizon's chart battle with Bicep was "unexpected".

The 'Obey' rockers have found themselves in a tight race for the Official UK Number One album this week, with their 2020 project 'POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR’ rocketing up the charts after the collection got a physical release this month.

And frontman Oli has admitted the reason they find themselves neck-and-neck with the Irish electronic music duo and their LP, 'Isles', could be down to the "dire state the charts are in".

He told NME: “It’s a little unexpected, but it’s cool.

“When we released the record last year it was just digitally, and one of the reasons for me was to avoid this whole debacle! We didn’t really give a f*** about where it charts, but as soon as it becomes a possibility then everyone wants it – management, the record label – and you can’t help but want it a little bit yourself for the sheer ego of it. According to this game that you have to play, it doesn’t matter if your last record sold more but got to Number Two, it’s better to sell less records and get to Number One."

The 'MANTRA' hitmaker admitted that whilst the band weren't aiming for No1, it would be "a cop-out to not try and get it now", but he's preparing himself for the “disappointment" if Bicep come out on top.

He continued: “I don’t know if it’s just a testament to what a dire state the charts are in, but it’s cool! It’s not that I don’t care about it, it’s more about the negative energy and disappointment when things don’t go your way. I didn’t want this, but it feels like a cop-out to not try and get it now. I’m practicing getting prepared for things not going our way, and that being fine.”

Elsewhere, Oli teased the band have just started working on the three follow-ups to 'POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR’, and hinted they may drip-feed some singles before they release another record.

He said: “We’re just beginning really. We’re actually working on parts two, three and four simultaneously and working on ideas from all the records. There’s a good chance that we might release songs from each before we release the next record.

“We’ll get songs out as soon as we can. You won’t have to hold your breath for too long. In terms of an actual record, I’d like to wait until we’ve toured this year. We’ve got so much to play from ‘Survival Horror’ that if we try to release another record before that then it’ll be like, ‘What the f*** do we play?’ I’d like to sample a bit of all three of the new records before one comes out, just so everyone gets an idea of what they’re going to sound like.”

The 34-year-old star added that fans can expect their new music to be "emotional", but in "a different way" to their last release.