[8] The European edition features a bonus song and a different artwork, but was erroneously promoted by Good Life Recordings as God Hour,[9][10] though that title never appeared on the actual release.

[12][13][14] In promotion of As Friends Rust, the band toured the United States, United Kingdom and Europe several times between June 1999 and September 2000, accompanied by such musical groups as Strike Anywhere, Grade, Ensign, Ignite, Good Clean Fun, Garrison, Glasseater, Mid Carson July, The Agency, Fast Times and Keith Welsh.

Looking to replace Glayat, Moyal and Simmons recruited guitarist Christopher "Floyd" Beckham, which in turn lead to Stewart's unexpected departure.

The new material recorded included "Half Friend Town", "Like Strings (Spell It With a K)", "Fire on 8th and 3rd", "Coffee Black", "Scapegoat Wets the Whistle", was well as a cover of Circle Jerks' "Operation", planned for a split 7-inch vinyl with Hot Water Music.

The Circle Jerks cover, "Operation", was also originally reserved for a split 7-inch vinyl with Hot Water Music, with which As Friends Rust was scheduled to tour Europe in promotion of the new release.

[19][21][22] Once the co-headlining tour fell through, Good Life Recordings cancelled the split and instead included "Operation" directly on As Friends Rust.

A second 7-inch was added to the vinyl edition, which included "Scapegoat Wets the Whistle" (in place of where Hot Water Music's cover of Circle Jerks' "Wild in the Streets" was to be), and "Operation" on the reverse.

[11] The artwork for the Good Life Recordings version of As Friends Rust was designed by Moyal, with band photographs taken by Nicholas Forneris and Vincent Kempeneers.

[5] The cover song, "Operation", was not released to the American market until a year later when Doghouse Records included it on a re-issue of The Fists of Time: An Anthology of Short Fiction and Non-Fiction.

The artwork for the Doghouse Records version of As Friends Rust, which included pictures of the house most members lived in, was designed by Moyal, Stewart and Jason Page.

[14] In promotion of its new self-titled extended play, and with slightly better American distribution of its debut The Fists of Time through Good Life Recordings' American distributor Eulogy Recordings, As Friends Rust embarked on a three-week East Coast United States tour, spanning from June 13 to July 4, 1999, accompanied by acoustic musician Keith Welsh.

[29][30] During the first half of 2000, As Friends Rust went on mini tours with New Jersey hardcore band Fast Times and Washington D.C. hardcore band Good Clean Fun, and also played The Copper Sun Indie Records Winter Festival in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, the Detroit Festival, in Eastpointe, Michigan and Krazy Fest 3 in Louisville, Kentucky.

[35][36][37] The Doghouse Records re-issue featured an all-new design and layout by Jason Page, though the CD jewel case spine included a typo in the release title, spelling it as The Fist of Time.

[10] As Friends Rust immediately embarked on a four-week tour promoting its two Doghouse Records releases, playing shows across the entire United States with Virginia hardcore band Strike Anywhere, spanning from May 29 to June 30, 2000.

[41] The tour included several cross-over shows with Glasseater, Mid Carson July and The Agency (the three of which were on tour together), as well as stops to play such festivals as Mixed Messages in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Pheer Festival, in College Park, Maryland and Hellfest 2K in Auburn, New York (which As Friends Rust did not play due to a last-minute change in venue).

[46][48] The band again planned to work on a full-length album in late 2000,[49] having written a handful of songs described as "calmer and more depressing", but this material was eventually abandoned due to line-up changes.

[52] On the way to Ieper Hardcore Festival, less than a week into the tour, the band was involved in a motor vehicle accident in Belgium, which badly damaged the van and resulted with Glayat suffering torn ligaments in his leg.

[57][2] Reviewers also praised Moyal's strong and intelligent lyrics,[59][61][29][68] describing them as hard hitting,[57] personal,[29] positive,[70] emotional,[71] socially-triggered,[29][71] and complex yet understandable.