I have these old overgrown azaleas that have been improperly pruned for years. I want to give them a hard prune but I am worried its too late into the season to do so (8/1 and zone 7). They are still very healthy and have a bunch of under growth.

Would it be ok to hard prune them now and still expect blooms in the spring? It's killing me looking at them every day and I really don't want to wait till next spring after they bloom to cut them back. Thanks for any advise in advance.