In a move made public to bring awareness to organ donation, Valient Thorr singer Valient Himself is giving a kidney to his father who has been ill since 1988.

"I feel like anybody would do it for somebody they love, whether it's their dad, their mom, their bandmate, their worker, their best friend or even a stranger," Himself tells Spinner. "Kidneys, they're like Hot Pockets -- two come in a box but you really only need one. But if both of yours goes bad, somebody should be able to help you out. "

His father has suffered from a variety of ailments including pancreatitis, and underwent surgery to remove his gall bladder. He has been on dialysis regularly since January.

"After our European tour last summer, I was in Greece and I got a call that he was sick and his kidneys had not been doing too good," Himself says. "They gave him medicine to help it, but the medicine created too many enzymes. Enzymes are broken down by your pancreas, which he doesn't have, and deposited into a bile duct by the gall bladder, which he doesn't have. Basically it started creating bile in his body and poisoning him."

Himself, whose band claims it's from the planet Venus, postponed all activities from April 15 through June 10, and is scheduled for surgery April 29 in North Carolina.

"I just flew from California to North Carolina and I'm in a secret laboratory getting ready for the surgery," Himself says, adopting his rock 'n' roll persona. "I'm not laying on a slab getting ready to be cut on yet. I've got sort of a bomb shelter I'm holed up in with all kinds of devices and panels to enhance my pleasure while I'm here."

After his six-week recovery, Himself will return to his band to perform at previously scheduled European festivals and the Metal Hammer Awards in London, England. Valient Thorr is set to release 'Immortalizer,' produced by Jack Endino (Nirvana, Hot Hot Heat), on June 17.

"As soon as I get up, I'm going to start getting ready because the new album that we just did, some of the songs are really difficult to sing," he says. "Even when I'm healthy."