KISS is actually a nice rule to follow when writing drum tracks. While drums that follow the guitar riff sound really nice, it can and will get tiring if used on the whole song. Find a groove that will fit well with your verses and stick to that, then use the flamboyant patterns on fills and hooks.
Another thing to note is texture, for example, choosing if the ride pattern will be done on the hats, ride, or china; or the choice between the kick or snare on the accents. Depending on your guitar's rhythm/tone you'll want to pick the right texture. As usual, there are no straight rules, but there are always better choices. FWIW I always found the snare to be a "release" and the kick to be an "explosion" if that ever makes a distinction to you. Personally I also pick the ride if I want to take the guitars up front, or give chords more "flow." Try some closed hats on choruses, if you can make them work especially in rock and metal, they do sound tight yet have lots of push.
As for the 16th kick groove, how about taking some notes off, in effect making 8ths with 16th "accents." or switch it up with the snare. or straight 16ths on kicks with a weird ride pattern. or triplets.