It’s Sunday afternoon at Download festival, and punters are about to receive a royal blessing. Decessus frontwoman Ignacia Fernández strides onto the Dogtooth stage amid djent-tinged, melodeath riffing, before unleashing a voice vile enough to turn milk sour. Then she begins the ceremonial act of headbanging, disappearing behind a waterfall of flawlessly conditioned hair. Last year, Ignacia became an overnight viral sensation when she performed a Decessus track on a rather different stage.
Stepping out in a floor-length ball gown and a sash, with a full face of glam make-up, she growled for the judges of the Miss World Chile semifinal, backed by her bandmate, guitarist Carlos Palma. While the star was aware her guttural performance clashed with the demure trappings of pageantry, she felt it was the only way she could express herself authentically. It paid off, with Ignacia later taking the crown.
Onstage, it’s clear she’s in her element – she spins her mic with the whimsical precision of a baton twirler, and often strikes a menacing, model-esque pose. Considering Ignacia was worried her pageantry involvement would ostracise her from the metal community, it’s been a huge relief to find herself welcomed with open arms.
“I was nervous that the metal fans would hate me,” she admits after her set. “I didn’t want people to think I was being disrespectful to the metal scene.”
She needn’t have worried. Soon after her performance for Miss World Chile, Ignacia was inundated with praise. She even got recognition from some of her favourite artists: System Of A Down and Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler.
“When my dad saw that Geezer Butler had posted my performance, he sent a screenshot, like, ‘What the fuck?!’” Ignacia remembers with a laugh. “It was all so crazy and shocking… and it was amazing that it helped so many people find our band!”
Sitting backstage at Download, the 28-year-old does stand out. From the sequins she’s placed under both eyes for added sparkle, to her glossy brown hair, it’s a look you wouldn’t necessarily associate with a grimy Donington field. However, Ignacia has proved her chops – and knowing how to do your make-up doesn’t render you incapable of appreciating metal.
“Whenever we get hate, it’s usually towards me and towards my looks, as if the way I look means I’m not a true metalhead,” she sighs. “I’m like every other metal lover – I grew up listening to my dad’s Black Sabbath cassettes, and I used to get lost for hours watching Guns N’ Roses live videos on YouTube.”
After a three-year depressive episode, Ignacia formed Decessus as a way of reconnecting with what she loved.
“I had a break from singing for years because I started getting really bad depression,” she admits. “I stopped doing everything that I loved – like, I used to love drawing and rollerskating, but then I just stopped everything. But I snapped out of it because I knew I really wanted to do music… I knew it would make me happy.”
After learning how to scream from a friend on Facebook (“he just sent a short list, like, ‘Do this, do this, don’t do this…’ and I just worked from that”), Ignacia practised from the comfort of her bedroom.
“I originally thought only men could scream, but I saw a video of Arch Enemy performing when I was 15, and, seeing Angela Gossow, I knew I wanted to scream too,” she says.
Ignacia used to wear a more conventional metalhead uniform, complete with a septum piercing (“I still put the ring in sometimes when I’m performing!”) and dyed hair. However, modelling came along and pressed pause on her dreams of being in a band.
“I used to dye my hair, but one day a modelling agency told me that they’d only work with me if I went back to a natural look,” she explains. “I’d gone to a shoot with my sister, who also models, and I had green hair and half of my head shaved. Eventually I agreed, and I had to shave it all to one length.”
While Ignacia winces at the memory, jokingly putting a hand to her temple like a maiden in distress as she brands it “The worst day of my life!”, her love for modelling is evident. Although she struggled at first (partially down to attending auditions alone at 14 to look “more professional”, which led to people being “mean”), it’s a career she thrives in.
“I’ve been working my ass off since I was a teenager, and I love it,” she grins.
Ignacia didn’t have any specific goals in mind when she decided to pursue pageantry, other than shaking up her life and making it more interesting. But it’s allowed her to explore her love of beauty and modelling on a global stage, as well as giving her a platform for her music and activism.
“I was originally involved with Miss Universe, but Miss World suits me much more,” she explains.
To the layman, the competitions might seem the same, but Miss World has a more humanitarian edge. With a focus on ‘beauty with a purpose’, it aims to seek out someone capable of being a global ambassador who cares for their community.
“It’s not just about being the most beautiful girls – each candidate has to have a social project,” the singer explains.
In Ignacia’s case, she’s been an animal rights activist from the age of five.
“I’ve been rescuing animals all my life,” she smiles. “Where I used to live in Chile, people would come and abandon their animals on our street. You’d go outside, and the streets were full of stray dogs and cats… so I started to bring them home, clean their wounds, and heal them.”
Soon, the Fernández household became an unofficial refuge for abandoned animals – much to her mum’s chagrin.
“My mum doesn’t really like cats, but at one point we had a few cats as well as eight dogs,” Ignacia smiles.
Her activism has grown into a project called The Sound Of Compassion, which helps support rescue and adoption centres while raising awareness for animal rights. She’s also spoken in the National Congress of Chile, standing against the Chilean president’s plans to detrimentally change laws protecting animal and environmental rights.
“I will always raise my voice for those who cannot,” she says. “People who don’t want animals to have rights have no brain… it’s evil and heartless.”
Even in her music, Ignacia advocates for animal rights. Latest single Dark Flames condemns those who commit arson in Chile, starting wildfires that kill people and animals in catastrophic numbers – sadly a common occurrence.
“When I write, I’m exploring everything I want to scream about – which is usually mental health, or animal rights,” she explains.
Decessus are yet to release a debut album, but Ignacia is keen to sort that out very soon.
“My biggest wish is for peace… and to finally get an album out,” she laughs. “I want the world to be a better place, and to help that with my music. If I can grow more as Ignacia along the way, that would also be great.”
Decessus have signed to Frontiers/BlkIIBlk and their debut album is expected soon.
