Bird replaces Paul Rees, who moved across to edit sister Emap music title Q magazine.
Bird has worked for Kerrang! since he left university. He joined the magazine as reviews editor after graduating, holding that job for two and a half years before going freelance.
In his last stint as a freelancer, Bird wrote features and reviews as well as becoming Kerrang!'s touring DJ, performing at Kerrang! events, such as the Kerrang! Club tour and DJing for Kerrang radio projects.
Dave Henderson, Emap Performance managing director of rock, said, "Ashley is the absolute real thing in the world of Kerrang!. If he couldn't be writing and editing it, you know he'd be buying it and down at the front at all the Kerrang! gigs."
As Bird moves up, Kerrang! features editor Dave Everley is promoted to deputy editor.
Bird will have a tough act to follow as previous editor Rees oversaw the title's victory over rival IPC Media's the NME in the circulation battle for the weekly music sector.
Kerrang! overtook the NME the end of last year and consolidated its leading position this year with an ABC circulation of 83,988 for the January to June period, ahead of the NME with 72,057.
Kerrang!, which was popular in the 80s when bands such as Whitesnake, Motley Crue and Guns N' Roses topped the charts, has enjoyed a renaissance in the last year after shifting its editorial to cover the new rock genre, nu metal.
Kerrang!'s pages now feature articles on bands such as Puddle of Mudd, Korn and Slipknot.
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