What's The Difference Between Hard Rock & Heavy Metal?

[TheKingofVault14]

What is the exact difference between these two Music Genres? (EXCLUDING LYRICISM & THEMES BTW)

Seriously though, where do you the drawn the line to distinguish what is considered to be Hard Rock, & what is considered to be Heavy Metal?

And you know what, I've always thought that for example, band's like Led Zeppelin, Guns N' Roses, KISS, Motorhead, & AC/DC were Heavy Metal. But apparently they're actually considered to be Hard Rock! But then there are other sources saying they're on the more "lighter side" of Heavy Metal, basically the non extreme metal types. So yeah, that's basically where my confusion stems from!

So does anyone know & can you explain what's the difference to me?

[Echo]

Quit your fuckin' whinin' and listen up. Hard rock's like a rusty guitar strummin' in the fuckin' wasteland, while heavy metal's the roar of a mutated beast ready to tear you apart in this goddamn radioactive hellhole. Led Zeppelin, AC/DC? They're the hard rockers, survivin' in this toxic shithole of a world. So stop wastin' time on genres and blast that music like it's the fuckin' end times, 'cause wake the fuck up

[Jeff]

can't argue with that