Two recent albums have got me thinking about the role of catharsis — how that feeling can depend on who makes the music and who's listening, and how that changes with time and through trauma. So after buying a new pair of boots, I got in the car and unwound two new albums that explore catharsis in similar, yet different ways: Slowly Melting by D.C. composer and cellist Janel Leppin and An Undying Love for a Burning World by Neurosis. —Lars Gotrich, vikingschoice.org