She’s sharp-tongued, steel-hearted, and forged in fire. This Valkyrie lives for metal gigs. Whether she’s headbanging front row, digging up underground bands, or getting guitar picks flicked at her, she embodies everything The Valkyries stand for. Meet your next favorite metalhead from the underground.

For the uninitiated, who are you, where do you hail from, and what drew you into the sacred halls of metal in the first place?

My name is Jess, I’m originally from Yorkshire, UK now living in Derbyshire. My first introduction into metal that I can remember was hearing a Skillet song in an ad at the cinema when I was about 9 or 10 years old.

I went home and looked it up on the family computer and my mum said ‘oh, you like rock and metal music?’ And that’s when I was first able to put a name to what I liked and start discovering more.

I remember going to HMV and buying Evanescence and System of a Down CDs, and those were the first physical albums I ever owned.

What was the first song or album that made you go “Oh. I’m definitely not normal anymore”?

It was ‘Visions in My Head’ by Obituary. I was probably 16. Until then I didn’t call myself a metalhead, I liked all the usual introductory stuff, but I was adamant I didn’t like ‘too much screaming’. Which is hilarious considering I’m now a huge extreme metal fan.

I heard this song and everything about it just immediately had me hooked. The distorted guitar tone, the gritty vocals, I just absolutely loved it. That was my gateway into extreme metal and I never looked back! I knew I’d gone past the point of no return when I could no longer show my friends songs I liked. I succeeded in getting a few friends into Slipknot at first, but showing them Behemoth didn’t always have the same effect.

Your metal tastes get thrown into a cauldron: what weird genre blend comes out?

I honestly have no idea. I love so many different subgenres that are nothing alike, so if you were to mix everything together the result would be repulsive! And not in a good way.

If someone tried to understand your personality just by raiding your vinyl collection, what bands would give you away?

That depends how good you are at reading people! There are some lesser known black metal bands in there that someone might look at and think I’m super dedicated to having obscure taste. And in reality, I just grabbed it from the sale section because I liked the cover artwork.

I’ve discovered a few great bands that way! But I also have some non metal artists on vinyl, from the Carpenters to Lana Del Rey, so I hope that would at least let people know I’m not one of those grumpy elitists.

Let’s talk women in metal, what’s the dumbest thing someone’s assumed about you because of your gender or look at a show?

Thankfully, the UK metal scene is absolutely incredible and I’ve never had a single bad experience at a show in almost 7 years. I can’t remember having ever been treated differently to my male counterparts.

Social media is a constant barrage of ‘poser’ comments, but I don’t feel the need to prove myself on the internet. I’ve been to over a hundred metal concerts or festivals in my lifetime so far, and met a good handful of bands too. In real life, we all see each other at the same shows and recognise one another’s genuine love and support for the music and scene, and that’s all that matters to me!

Tell us about your most spiritually damaging mosh pit experience. The one where you maybe briefly saw your ancestors.

It was at a Behemoth show in London earlier this year. I was by the barrier and a man easily twice my size came down on my head while crowd surfing. No one seemed to want to grab him, so I had to, no joke, literally squat this guy from the ground back into the air to prevent my spine from compressing like a tin can. I have no idea how I did it. Possibly a combination of leg days at the gym and pure adrenaline.

You get to summon a personal band to play your funeral, who plays, what song, and what weird thing happens on stage during it?

I’d want a cheesy power metal band, with costumes, flame-throwing props, the whole package. They can write a song about my life and make me sound like the coolest person ever. Something would definitely end up on fire that wasn’t supposed to be, and it’d be awesome.

What’s the most cursed piece of merch, instrument, or artifact you own? Bonus points if it smells weird.

I have a Marduk t-shirt that I’ve worn to SO many gigs. It’s gotten soaked in sweat, beer, fake blood, and god knows what else. I don’t remember the last time I washed it. I know that’s so insanely gross but it doesn’t smell *bad* it just smells… like a gig (and my local scene definitely isn’t as odorous as the stereotypes). Gigs are my happy place, so sometimes it’s nice to have a cursed stinky shirt to bring back good memories.

Outside of metal, what unexpected music do you secretly love enough to defend in a pit?

I love every kind of music, and I mean everything. I love electronic music. If my early life had gone differently I reckon I’d have ended up a raver instead.

Having been into heavy music since a young age I couldn’t have an ‘emo phase’ , so I ended up a K-pop fan as a teenager instead, and I don’t regret that one bit. It was amazing! I wouldn’t defend K-pop in a moshpit though because the fans are absolutely terrifying.

If you had to teach a baby metalhead ONE album as gospel, what would it be and why?

It feels impossible to pick just one when there are so many amazing albums that set many of us on our metal journeys!!

I think I’d have to pick Celtic Frost-Morbid Tales. It’s an album that shaped extreme metal. It’s undeniably heavy while also being catchy. It’s everything that metal should be, and a good bridge into the less approachable genres.

I wouldn’t want a baby metalhead falling into the internet-perpetuated trap of thinking that metal must be pure unintelligible noise to be considered heavy or even good. I’ve seen many youngsters online lately saying that various of the original heavy metal bands ‘aren’t even heavy’ and it makes me feel disappointed that the word has lost its meaning.

Don’t get me wrong, I love me some brutal death metal! But I also think Korn’s first album is pretty heavy, in entirely different but equally valid ways, and I’d probably be crucified if I said that on social media.

Every new metalhead should explore and respect the pioneering bands, even if they don’t turn out to be their personal favourites.

Got any tattoos, piercings, or gear that come with a heavy story? Battle wounds, ritual ink, or a cursed guitar pedal?

Actually, no. Most of my concert souvenirs were acquired by accident. I have one guitar pick that hit me in the face when I wasn’t looking, and one that just fell straight into an open pocket of my bag.

I have a couple of band tattoos, but there’s no deep story behind them, they’re just bands that meant a lot to me at the time I got them. I would love to get tattooed at a festival one day though!

I do also have a burning church tattoo, but it’s neither an anti-religious symbol nor black metal related, it was just a flash piece that I saw and fell in love with.

Last rites: shout out anything you’re doing (music, modeling, podcasting, etc) and drop a final quote that sums up your whole damn metal existence.

I just go to lots of shows, that’s my thing! But I’m always more than happy to do interviews, gig reviews etc for anyone interested as I love talking about metal! If you ever spot me at a show, don’t hesitate to say hello, I’m very friendly! Other than that, just keep listening to music that makes you feel alive, and ‘SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL UNDERGROUND!’

All Hails, Jess!