“Thank you for the worldwide recognition of my singing, a little piece of my soul that inspires me to keep growing”: The woman who sang death metal at Miss World Chile has just won the competition

The woman who went viral for singing death metal during Miss World Chile has won the competition.

Two weeks ago, 27-year-old model Ignacia Fernández attracted global attention when she growled her way through a song during the contest’s semifinal.

Joined by her guitarist Carlos Palma, she sang a track by her progressive death metal outfit Decessus, whom she co-founded in 2020.

On Sunday (November 9), Fernández, who was representing the Los Condes district of her hometown of Santiago, beat 19 other contestants to win Miss World Chile 2025 during a nationally televised live final.

Shortly afterwards, she took to Instagram to thank her supporters, calling singing “a little piece of my soul that inspires me to keep growing and dreaming big”. She also vows to move forward with “energy and heart” as she prepares to represent Chile in the Miss Universe contest in Thailand later this month.

“Couldn’t be more happier and grateful!” Fernández wrote (translated from Spanish by the Instagram app). “I take on this beautiful challenge with all the energy and heart put into representing my country in the best way ❤️

“I promise to give it my all, with passion, labor and purpose. Thank you for the worldwide recognition of my singing, a little piece of my soul that inspires me to keep growing and dreaming big. Let’s go all the way Chile.... for that crown!”

Fernández started modelling in 2013. With Decessus, she has shared stages with the likes of Insomnium, Jinjer and Epica. The band describe themselves as “one of the most promising emerging acts in Chilean metal”, with music that “explores complex rhythmic structures and aggressive melodic passages”.

After winning the Miss World Chile semifinal last week, Fernández gave an interview to Chilean newspaper Las Últimas Noticias, where she admitted she was nervous to perform a death metal song on TV.

“Television lends itself to people making memes and making fun of you,” she said (via Blabbermouth). “The song I sang is by my band. It’s my job, my life.”

She also explained how she takes care of her voice for live performances, saying: “I studied for more than two years, very focused. I have an ENT [ears, nose and throat] specialist and a speech therapist with whom I constantly make sure that everything is okay. I warm up during the day and before a show I take between 15 and 30 minutes to do several exercises calmly.”

Fernández is not the only Chilean metal musician making international waves in 2025. Earlier this year, Metal Hammer interviewed fellow Santiago performers Mawiza, who’ve supported the likes of Slipknot and King Diamond and recently collaborated with Gojira. The band’s music is inspired by their ancestral roots in the Mapuche Nation: an Indigenous South American group who warred with Spanish settlers for hundreds of years.

“We are searching for our own identity within our music,” lead singer Awka Mondaka told us. “Here in Chile, for the Mapuche Nation, it’s difficult to find your identity, because in the Chilean state it’s like, ‘You are all Chilean. There is no Mapuche, there is no Indigenous, there is no identity – just Chile.’”