In that progression, the main riff (A, D, E) was up at the 5th and 7th frets. Then on the minor chorus it dropped down to the 2nd fret for the F#m barre chord. So this change in bass notes really helps alter the feel of the song.

Another thing that will really alter the feel of the background progression is what kind of lead or vocals are over it. If your lead is in the A Ionian scale for the main riff, but then starts doing something in F# minor pentatonic for the chorus, this will help out a lot.

As for cadences, this is the type of theoretical stuff that's not very practical. As far as I know a cadence, per se, is just some sort of melodic way of ending a particular section of music. So yeah, you could come up with some sort of transition there. On my riff, if you played a transition or cadence at the end of the verse that went from IV to V7, before going to the minor, this might help ease that change.

Sometimes you just have to play what sounds good and don't worry about theory.