'Miss World Chile 2025' IGNACIA FERNÁNDEZ Explains How She Became A Death Metal Singer

In a new interview with Finland's Chaoszine, Ignacia Fernández, the 28-year-old model who was crowned Miss World Chile 2025 (Spanish: Miss Mundo Chile) during last year's finals of the talent competition, spoke about how she became the vocalist and founder of the Chilean progressive death metal band DECESSUS. Asked if she remembers when she heard heavier music for the first time in her life, Ignacia said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Yes, I do. Ever since I was very young, I loved music, all kinds of music. At my home, my parents used to listen to all sorts of music. I liked them all, but my special interest was in rock music. But then when I started to grow up, I was feeling the need to listen to more heavier songs. So at the age of 11 or something, I found SYSTEM OF A DOWN, for example. So I started to go heavier. Oh, and before SYSTEM OF A DOWN, I found GUNS N' ROSES, which was also rock, but it was a bit more energetic comparing to what my father used to listen most of the time. And then I found SYSTEM OF A DOWN. I love them… And ever since then, I started trying to find more heavy music until the first time I listened to distortion vocals, like death vocals. It was actually in EPICA. The guitar player, Mark Jansen, does some harsh vocals, and I was very impressed. I really loved the sound, but it never came to my mind that I could also produce that sound. I was very young. I don't know. I saw a man doing that. I was, like, 'That's so cool.' But it never came to my mind I could also do it. Until at that same age, 11, 12 maybe, I saw a video, ARCH ENEMY 'Nemesis' live in Japan, like the classic video, and that was the first time I saw a woman singing death metal, and I was really impressed — really impressed. And ever since, I was, like, 'I want to do this.'

"I always wanted to do music," she explained. "I never knew what kind of music or what to do, like [playing] an instrument or something. I never had an instrument at home. It wasn't part of my daily life. So I never knew what I wanted to do, but I knew it was music. And when I listened the first time a woman singing [death metal] like that, I was, like, 'Okay, this is what I wanna do.'"

Asked if she tried to emulate Angela Gossow by screaming along to ARCH ENEMY songs when she first tried her hand at death metal singing, Ignacia said: "Actually, at the beginning, I wasn't listening much of ARCH ENEMY, even though it was the first time I listened to a woman [singing like that]. I was listening more other bands. I was trying to emulate the sound in my room. My mother probably was very scared — I don't know — but I was trying, I was trying. I was failing a lot. I remember, with the computer, I was looking for information, how to do it. I was reading some stuff online, seeing some videos, but I never found a good video. But I was trying to pick different stuff from here and there to try to do it until I found the sound, but it took a while. It wasn't a very fast process."

On the topic of whether there were specific songs or bands that she remembers screaming along to when she first tried singing death metal, Ignacia said: "I have such bad memory. I really don't know, but I always will remember THE AGONIST with Alissa White-Gluz. She was definitely one of my biggest inspirations. She is one of my biggest inspirations in music and in singing. So, yeah, definitely THE AGONIST. But, yeah, plenty more. I don't really remember, to be honest."

Asked if DECESSUS was her first-ever proper band or if she had been in other groups already before, Ignacia said: "No, no, no. Well, when I developed the sound the first time, I then stopped for many years doing everything that I liked because of some personal things and not feeling very well, et cetera. So when I came back, 'Okay, I will start singing again. I will start doing vocal lessons and then I will build my own band.' And so I did. So I studied vocal lessons for two years, and in the meantime I built my band DECESSUS."

Reflecting on her first recording session as a member of DECESSUS, Ignacia said: "It was so weird. I remember we were during COVID, COVID times. In Chile, it was just when the people could start going out again, but with some permits and for a few hours. And it was very difficult. And every studio was closed. So the guy who recorded me found a home, a place. He set up everything in there. I went with my mom and my sister. I was so scared. I didn't know what to do. And, yeah, it was a very weird experience, but very cool. I remember it very, very well… I mean, yeah, of course, I was afraid. I was, like, 'What am I doing? Will I do it good? I don't know,' blah, blah, blah. It was my first time in the studio. But then everything went very smooth, and I was feeling great, and the end result was great. I was happy. I was there for quite a few hours, and then I left home very, like, 'I did it. I can start doing this. I achieved my first goal.' Like, go to the studio. 'Nice. What's next?'"

Ignacia also reflected on her first live performance with DECESSUS, saying: "It definitely was a learning experience. For example, the guys in my band, they have played together since they were, like, I don't know, seven years, eight years. They studied at the same art school, and they had many bands and a lot of experience, but I had never been on a stage, and I was really afraid. I got very anxious, like, 'Am I going to do this correctly? Am I going to mess up?' [I was] afraid of the people and everything. Maybe it was a good thing we started in the pandemic because I had time to slowly [develop as a vocalist]. So I think that was nice for me, but definitely the first time we got on a stage, I was so bad. I mean, feeling like I really wanted to leave before going to the stage. I actually went out, went to a little park that was nearby, sat down with my bottle of water and was really planning and seeing how bad would it be if I just go home. I was going to do it. I was, like, damage control, you know?! Like, 'How bad would it be? No, maybe it isn't that bad. Okay, I'll go home.' I was so nervous. Then my best friend came walking. I never knew he was going to the show. And he saved the day. I was, like, 'Okay, come on inside. Come inside.' And then I did it. I was very nervous. I was shaking all the time, so I had to take the microphone with both hands so people wouldn't notice."

She added: "It was [typical of] the first time, I think, for everyone. The first time is the most difficult, but it ended up being very nice. The place was full. We sold out the tickets. That was amazing. The people were so energetic. I remember that day in a very good way."

Asked if she is planning on ever doing any clean singing with DECESSUS in the future, Ignacia said: "The thing is that when I built the band, I always wanted it to be just screaming. That was my vision. I love bands that do both. I usually listen to a lot of bands that do both [style of] singing, but I don't know why I just wanted to scream. But we have a few songs in the album, new album that is coming out, that I sing a little bit — just a little bit."

Asked if she is "extra nervous" about having her clean singing voice heard, Ignacia said: "Yeah, absolutely. Because it's different. I mean, of course my screaming is my voice. I'm not using any kind of effect or whatever. It's not my speaking voice, so it's like my alter ego. But then if I sing clean vocals, it's myself, and that makes me very nervous."

Fernández, who went viral for performing a death metal song during the Miss World Chile semifinals, beat out 19 other finalists to be named Miss World Chile. She is set to represent Chile at the 75th Miss World 2026 in Vietnam, with the grand finale taking place on September 5, 2026.

Regarding her decision to sing a DECESSUS song during the Miss World Chile competition, Ignacia previously told host Jose Mangin of SiriusXM's Liquid Metal: "When the option to enter the contest came, they were, like, 'Okay, but we have the sport competition, we have the talent competition and everything, so you have to do them.' I was, like, "All right. But I was suspicious about making the music because I was a little bit afraid and everything. I was, like, 'Okay, this is my only talent. I'm going to sing and I'm going to sing a song from my band to at least show what I do.' Because then if I did another song from, I don't know, ARCH ENEMY, I didn't want them to be mad at me because a beauty contest kind of thing, like, I was like, 'Okay, if I'm going to fuck it [up], I'm going to fuck it [up] with my music at least.'"

Ignacia went on to say that she wasn't afraid to show who she is as a metal vocalist, despite the fact that her connection to death metal challenged the traditional standards of beauty pageants.

"I've been working as a model since I'm very young," she explained. "The 'Miss' kind of side is completely different than the modeling job. It's two separate worlds. But now I entered this, I saw this as an opportunity because Miss World has… I don't care about winning a crown because of being the most pretty girl whatever. I don't care about that. Miss World, for me, is important because it gives you a platform to work on something you are passionate about, to have a voice. It's called Beauty With A Purpose. So you have to have a social project. You have to do something real. You know, in my case, I'm very passionate about animals and animal rights. So I wanna work on that. So now with the whole music kind of part, that is part of the competition because there is this talent side. They are trying to find this like complete woman. And I'm trying to show myself as I am. Of course, I know it's not common to have a metal vocalist in a beauty contest. I am absolutely aware of that, but it is what I am, so I'm not afraid to show how I am, even though I know lots of people doesn't like that I will go and sing metal vocals at Miss World."

Miss World Chile is a national pageant selecting representatives for both Miss World and Miss Universe, with traditional categories alongside a talent segment.

Fernández represented the Las Condes district in last year's pageant, choosing to sing one of the original songs from DECESSUS, wearing a ball gown and accompanied by her bandmate, guitarist Carlos Palma.

Both the audience and the judges were taken aback during the first few seconds of the performance. That surprise quickly turned into a standing ovation: one of the judges said he had never seen anything like it in a beauty pageant.

Formed in 2020, DECESSUS, which also features drummer Martín Fénix and bassist Jaime Pepe, has opened for such international acts as INSOMNIUM and JINJER. They have also performed at festivals in Finland and Germany, and in September 2024 they opened for EPICA in Santiago.

Fernández was born and raised in Santiago, Chile, where she combines her modeling career — which she began in 2013 — with her other great passion: extreme music.

As she has shared on her social media, metal "has been a fundamental part" of who she is as a person and of her life. For her, it represents "a refuge, a source of strength and purpose."