Poke ๐
Sounds awesome ๐ mix down doesn’t sound too far off? Sounds like a bit more ‘technical eq’ and gentle shoe-horning of frequencies would help.
See what you mean about the pad. It doesn’t sound out of place, but it sounds like it could be more dynamic- ..automated gain? automated filter? distortion? something to make it pump and jump out a bit more..
High end seems a little flat… think the hats could do with high passing and gentle boost to 8k+ ..
I spend too much time fiddling with EQ and mixing so I think I’ve got quite a good feel for it… I ain’t no pro tho