Concert review: Kanye West startles, appalls during 'Yeezus' show at Barclays

In a true Madonna fashion, Kanye West brought religious provocation - including a Jesus actor - and sketchy meaning to Brooklyn, but thrilled with his theatrics and primal screams. Splash News

The superstar's 'Yeezus' features a Jesus actor that makes way for the 'Jesus Walks' track on his new CD.

Kanye West strode onto the stage of the Barclays Center Tuesday like a gladiator, his face shrouded by a mask laden with jewels and gold.

At the first of four New York-area shows, the star moved with menace. He yielded his soldierly stance only in one dramatic moment, stopping to spread his arms in wide surrender while gazing toward a blinding white light emanating from the arena ceiling.

PHOTOS: KIM KARDASHIAN'S STYLE MAKEOVER

Was heaven beckoning?

West may think so, given the fact that the show promotes a CD named 'Yeezus.' The disc also includes a song that finds him declaring 'I Am A God.' At one point during the show, he even has a close encounter with an actor playing, yes, Jesus.

PHOTOS: KIM KARDASHIAN, KANYE WEST ENJOY ADORABLE FAMILY DAY WITH BABY NORTH

West's spooky stage mask could have a messianic mission, too. It presents the star as a force too awesome to have anything as ordinary as a human face.

If nothing else, Mr. Awesome certainly didn't deliver an average hip-hop show. The tour, like everything out of Kanye West-world, seems devised to either startle or appall. The show did both - but in ways that thrilled.

RELATED: KIM KARDASHIAN GOES TOPLESS IN KANYE'S NEW MUSIC VIDEO

West featured eight of the 10 songs from his slam-dunk 'Yeezus' CD. He opened with 'On Sight,' a brilliant seesaw of synth lines that needle and whine over a futuristic rock beat. 'How much do I not give a f---,' begins its in-your-face chorus.

Like most cuts on the CD, the song translates '90s industrial music into hip-hop language, using synths and beats with the mania and edge of electric guitars. While the show also featured older, less strident and funkier hits, its core soared on the cold and the confrontational.

RELATED: KIM KARDASHIAN, KANYE WEST EAT WENDY'S

The impeccably staged show centered on an imposing glacier-like structure beneath a roiling LED screen. Dancing women appeared on the mountainous facade, arranged with an architectural stiffness and purpose. In one notable moment, the glacier split, allowing the dancers to march through with candles incense and a statue of the Virgin Mary. Later, the actor portraying Jesus blessed the star, who knelt before him and finally took off his mask before going into - what else? - 'Jesus Walks.'

It was all very Madonna, from its religious provocation to its sketchy meaning. But the show's narrative mattered less than the music's intensity. West delivered fresh songs like 'New Slaves' and 'Black Skinhead' with the brutality they deserve.

RELATED: KANYE WEST SPEAKS TO HARVARD STUDENTS WITH KIM KARDASHIAN LOOKING ON

In 'I Am A God,' he turned a series of primal screams into an electrifying rhythm, while his dancers hoisted him aloft like a soul tortured, or anointed.

The show wasn't without softer moments. West performed the yearning 'Coldest Winter,' and hits like 'Through the Wire' gave the night a pop connection.

But, at its core, the show wasn't about crowd-pleasing. It was about unyielding beats, hellish textures and a brusque flow, all delivered with an impact every bit as stunning as West's ego itself.

jfarber@nydailynews.com