I love how the kick and clap turned out on this one. It says better mix because it's the second, better, and shorter version.

Aerithos - Pyxis Nautica (Better Mix)

the kick is great but may i suggest adding some sort of top end to it? maybe sample another kick to give it some higher frequency content, i think it would add more punch.

I do appreciate the suggestion. I had initially tested several types of layered kicks to add some top end punch, but I ended up intentionally cutting out the sharp attack to provide better contrast with the very sharp clap and give the song a slightly darker feel. However I do generally prefer a sharper top end to kicks, it just didn't seem appropriate here. I wanted it to feel more like an earthquake than a kick...

Hey, I actually think you did a really good job creating a dark atmosphere with this. I especially like the way you lead into the song. However, it sounds like your kick and snare are causing a "pumping" effect at some points (such as 0:21-0:31) and I'm not sure if it's intentional or not. It kinda sounds like you're pushing it way too hard through a limiter. It also sounds like there are some really low frequencies in your kick that are interfering with the bass. Gradually high-passing your kick might help to clean up your mix a bit.

Thank you! Yeah, the pumping is intentional. I was wanting the kick to be oppressive and heavy, like it's shaking the earth. So the kick is strong for the first beat of the measure, then the quick release on the sidechained compressor brings the bass back in for the second beat. I setup a sidechain from the clap to suppress the kick on the third beat which in turn suppresses the bass, then the bass again comes back for the fourth beat. The resulting sidechain "envelope" looks like this:
 

 
The song started out with the synth at 1:19, a kick, and the limiter. I liked the heavy pumping feel, so I re-worked it by re-creating the effect mostly with sidechaining.