In my long years as a Power, Heavy, Symphonic and Nu Metal fan this is a question that has always plagued me. I always try to think about things logically and to give each thing its own name.

What I mean by that is that I always had on my mind what is and what isn't power metal and recently, checking some topics in this Subreddit I saw many people calling bands power metal that for me are not power metal bands.

Just to make it clear, I know that I'm no authority on anything and these definitions can be very personal and each person names whatever they want, but I'm just trying to fulfill my own need of naming things correctly.

I saw people calling Iron Maiden power metal, and for me it is heavy metal.

I saw people calling nightwish and within temptation power metal and for me it has always been symphonic/gothic.

I even saw a person calling Megadeath power metal. I mean, where do we draw the line?

Everything came from Heavy Metal but where do we separate what is what? Is it even possible to do that? I know that bands can do many things different but I think we can all agree that in general they follow a style.

Any thoughts?