The newly christened band toured through their local club scene for several years, building up their material and performance skills.

The same year, they independently released their debut album, the self-titled Boiler Room (often mistakenly referred to as Low Society), with at least seven of the album’s 11 tracks being re-worked songs from their Bible Black days in Do or Die, Independence, Undying, Wrecking Man, Hard Reality, Black Sky and Judgement Day.

The album, produced by future Guns N' Roses guitarist Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, featured a sound more influenced by hardcore and groove metal when compared to their later work.

[5] 1999 saw the band opening for nationally-recognized acts, including Type O Negative, King's X, Clutch and Static-X, helping them catch the attention of local radio station WXRK.

During the production process, famed producer Bob Marlette was given the opportunity to provide a test mix for the song Do It Again, but it was ultimately rejected.

With new artwork created, Can't Breathe finally hit stores on November 3, 2000, with the opening track Do It Again being sent to radio stations and released as a single, with the unreleased song 4 x 4 accompanying it as a b-side.

[2] Critically, the album was met with little enthusiasm, with Dean Carlson from AllMusic describing the band's sound as "clichéd musicianship" in a negative review that scored 1.5 stars out of 5.

[9] Upon returning the US on March 12, 2001, Boiler Room played a few extra club dates on the east coast before announcing Superficial as the upcoming second single from the album, along with plans to film a video.