Two weeks ago, an unknown death metal singer named Ignacia Fernández stunned the world. During her performance at the Miss World Chile competition, held to find the person who would represent the nation at the Miss World pageant, Fernández had her band's guitarist join her for a song.
Many times, a pageant hopeful sings a song that is one of hope or is overly poppy. Maybe they show off good voices, but the songs themselves are often unremarkable and forgettable. Not Ignacia Fernández's. Few who saw (and continue to see it on social media) will forget how well she did and what genre of music she chose.
The 27-year-old model and lead singer of a Chilean band called Decessus (whose songs we need to hear) proved one can be pretty and also bring the finer points of death metal darkness to the scene. She and guitarist Carlos Palma were not only unexpected, but they were brilliant.
Death metal singer Ignacia Fernández impresses and surprisingly wins the Miss World Chile competition
So much so that the performance helped carry her to the Miss World Chile crown. She will now compete for Miss World in 2026, and one might rightly wonder if she will once again bring her band's magic to the stage. That would be a win not only for her but for metal. She's good at what she does, and the world needs more of it.
The song is clearly metal from the beginning, but Fernández starts by singing in English about broken dreams. That lasts about 13 seconds before she goes full-on death metal vocals. She clearly has performed in that manner before because she is confident, full-throated, and in complete control. She knows what she is doing.
Which brings up the whole idea of maybe having a Mr. and (separately) Miss Death Metal World show somewhere. People could dress in suits and dresses and dress-suits and do their best tunes. People love watching pretty people do things, for better or worse, and maybe more people would be into the greatness of death metal if there were more Ignacia Fernándezs, oddly enough.